The Arrangement
by acciojd
Summary: The whole thing would have been hilarious to watch, if they weren't suspended over a freezing lake and terrified about the whereabouts of Ron and Harry.
1. Unstoppable

**Authors Note: Welcome to my second multichapter story! I really hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to let me know if you have any suggestions or advice! **

**The Arrangement**

Chapter One: Unstoppable

_Four years ago_

"Table for two, please. Reservation is under Weasley." The hostess, who had previously been looking down at a reservations book, perked up excitedly at the sound of his surname.

"Right away, Mr. Weasley." She said, blushing furiously. Although it had been years since the war ended, it still surprised Ron when his name sparked this kind of reaction. He had always known that the name 'Harry Potter' would generate excitement, but he never would have guessed that he would have this affect on people as well.

"Is Miss. Granger with you?" the young hostess said, glancing around wildly, clearly hoping to spot another third of the golden trio.

"Ms. _Weasley_ will be meeting me here. It's our anniversary" Ron replied, emphasizing the pronunciation of his last name. The hostess blushed, embarrassed. As Ron sat down, she tapped the table twice and two menus appeared on the table. She then quickly walked away.

Ron noticed immediately that the center of the table held a small mason jar with a bright blue flame floating in the middle. It had to be the same charm Hermione used, and it elated Ron immediately. He took this as a good sign on his restaurant choice. As he reached for what he assumed was the wine list, the hostess returned with a bottle, corking it and pouring Ron a glass. "On the house. Congratulations, Mr. Weasley. And thank you."

Ron smiled, and thanked her. Yes, these were definitely good signs. He sat back and glanced around the restaurant. It was a new place that had opened after the war in Godric's Hollow, called 'Three Muses'. It was a little much for dinner, in Ron's opinion. The ambiance was very high end, and even though he was much more well off than he had been in his youth, spending this many galleons on dinner still made him uneasy. But Harry had recommended it and this was a special occasion, after all. It was Ron and Hermione's first wedding anniversary.

Ron looked around the restaurant, feeling rather proud of himself. He was so glad he could now afford a night like this. Just a few years ago, he would have stuck out like a sore thumb and panicked at the prices on the menu.

He was alone because Hermione had made him meet her at the restaurant. She didn't want him to see the dress she had picked out for the occassion until she was all ready. As he awaited her arrival, he found himself weirdly nervous. His heart was beating faster than usual. "This is Hermione," he whispered to himself trying to calm himself down. "She is your wife. She already said yes, now relax."

As he was giving himself a pep talk, Hermione walked into the restaurant. She spotted him first, and Hermione had never found him so handsome. He was wearing an outfit that Ginny had helped him pick out earlier in the week. He had on dark grey slacks and a light blue button down that matched his eyes.

When he looked up and made eye contact with Hermione, who was wearing a show stopping dress in a deep red, his jaw dropped. No matter how many times he saw her, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world.

It had the makings of a beautiful night.

But things never really do go as plan. Especially when you are Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger-Weasley.

Even though Voldemort was dead and gone, there was still always the risk of attack. Although far and few between, they were still targets. They were, after all, Harry Potter's best friends. They were two-thirds of the trio that brought down the most evil wizard of all time.

And although Voldemort was gone, there were others. Former death eaters, angry family members of imprisoned or dead Death Eaters, and even others who were just looking to make a name for themselves by taking down part of the golden trio. The truth was, it might have been known as the golden era of the wizarding world, but darkness will always exist in the hearts of some people.

Ron supposed he should have noticed their attacker earlier, he was an Auror after all. He was trained in this sort of thing. Any other time he would have noticed the man in his 30s, sitting alone at the bar shooting them occasional glances that were not the excited adoring kind.

Ron figured that the man must have arrived after Hermione did. Once she showed up Ron was too focused on her to notice anything else in the world, let alone a man at the bar him eyeing them strangely. Their attacker was at the restaurant for one reason and one reason only: To kill. Ron might have missed his arrival, but he did see the familiar movement towards a wand.

Instincts kicked in. Ron and Hermione had been sitting next to each other at a square table that could have sat four. When she had arrived, he pulled out the chair of the seat next to him. She had laughed. "Don't want to sit across so you can stare at me?" she teased.

"I want to be as close to you as possible" Ron had replied.

This move, it turned out, was incredibly lucky. When the man pulled his wand out and pointed it towards them, Ron dived on top of Hermione, knocking her to the floor. The killing curse missed Ron's hair by inches when he tackled Hermione to the ground. He felt very cold when he thought of what could have happened if she were across from him.

Not for nothing was Hermione the brightest witch of her age. She was quick, intelligent, and rational. Even while being crushed in mid sentence by her husband, she able to shoot a stunning spell at their attacker. He was now safely in a cell at Azkaban.

Together, they were unstoppable.

_Thanks for reading Chapter 1! This was just an intro chapter, setting up the background for my story. Please let me know what you think. Reviews make me so happy!_


	2. Protect Your Queen

**A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I hope this means people are finding this story engaging. I was not planning on updating it tonight, as I wanted to get a bit further along****with the story before I kept updating, but I'm excited... and since last chapter was an intro, it didn't really count anyway. So here is the next chapter. Stick with it, please! And let me know what you thing. I'm ALMOST done, but not quiet, so their can always be changes made if you don't/do like the direction the story is heading.**

**Chapter 2: Protect Your Queen**

A few months after the "anniversary incident," and after the trial and subsequent media circus... life had returned to normal for Ron and Hermione.

Ron was moving up the ranks as an Auror and Hermione, despite her earlier hesitations, had just taken on a new position with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It had been Kinglsey's persuasion, arguing that she would be instrumental in protecting muggle-born witches and wizards from some antiquated prejudices and pure blood biased laws.

Ron reminded her of this whenever she fretted about leaving S.P.E.W. and the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, which turned out to be quiet often.

The two had finally stopped renting a place in Godric's Hollow, and bought a home outside of Devon, not terribly far from the burrow. Hermione had been insistent on living somewhere that had both muggles and wizards, and their new place was perfect.

"Fancy a game of Chess?" Hermione asked on warm Sunday afternoon. Ron was sprawled across their living room floor, polishing his broomstick in preparation for the Auror amateur league game that night. At this offer, Ron immediately dropped his broomstick and looked up at her confused.

Hermione hated chess, and she was pretty awful at it. Ron had a sneaking suspicion that there was a correlation between things Hermione hated and things she was bad at. Chess and Quidditch being probably the only two things Hermione was, well, terrible at and also the two things she hated.

"Er… who are you and what have you done with my wife?" Ron said, only half joking. Instinctively he actually reached for his wand.

Hermione noticed this, laughed a bit, and exclaimed, "Eat slugs, Malfoy!"

Ron smiled instantly. During the Horcrux hunt, after the disaster at Malfoy Manner, Ron and Hermione had decided to use this phrase between them if there was any concern that the other was being polyjuiced. It was probably paranoia, but a fair concern given the amount of times they had polyjuiced other people.

"I was reading a book on different strategies to check-mate your opponent. Did you know that you can get a check-mate in four moves?" Hermione replied. Ron grinned. That was more like the Hermione he knew, finding solutions in books.

"Yeah, but if you think I'm falling for that, you've forgotten who you married to."

"Oh hush." Hermione replied. Ron got to his feet and went to retrieve his chess set from its usual storage spot, when Hermione surprised him again.

"I've already gotten it." She said, holding the board up to show him, before turning to the table laying the pieces out in their proper places. Ron shrugged and sat across from his wife.

Hermione, as expected, began loosing pretty spectacularly. Ron would have taken it easy, let her get a few of his pieces, but she almost seemed to be enjoying it. In fact, she was playing so bad, that Ron suspected she was loosing on purpose.

Within minutes the only pieces that remained were Hermione's King and Queen.

"I guess those 4 move checkmates didn't work out." Ron smirked.

"Shh.." Hermione said, hushing him and concentrating on her pieces. Ron rolled his eyes, knowing she had lost this round.

"Knight to E-4" Ron said, directing his knight to take Hermione's Queen.

"Can't do that, sir," the little knight said, shaking his hand back up at him.

"What do you mean, you can't do that? It's a perfectly legal move." Ron was shocked to say the least. He had been playing with this set for years, and his chess pieces had never disobeyed his orders before. Given that he hadn't lost a game with them in years, they never even offered him advice anymore.

"The Weasley Queen is with child, she must be protected, but black and white knight's alike! She cannot be taken!" the little knight spoke back up. To Ron's shock, his other pieces left their positions and began circling around Hermione's Queen in a protective stance.

"With child? She's a chess piece!" Ron said, exasperated. "With child? What in the ruddy hell is wrong with my chess pieces?"

"The Weasley King and Weasley Queen are with Child!" The knight yelled back, sounding annoyed right back at him. "They cannot be taken!"

"I'm the Weasley King!" Ron was just about to knock the chess pieces over in frustration when it hit him like a train.

He's the Weasley King. Hermione is the Queen. He looked up from the pieces to Hermione's face. She was smiling so bright that it lit up the room.

"With child?" he asked and she nodded, smiling even brighter.

Ron stood up so fast; the chess pieces did hit the floor. Laughing, he grabbed Hermione and spun her around once before wrapping her into a hug. "I'm going to be a father?" He choked out.

"The best father!" He kissed her, but his laughter and excitement broke up the would-be passionate kiss.

"You charmed the chess pieces?" he said.

She shrugged in reply. "Seemed like a fun way to tell you."

"I knew it was odd you wanted to play!" He said, and kissed her again.

"Weasley is my king." She whispered as she broke away from him.

"The Weasley Queen MUST be kept safe." Ron laughed. He sighed, pulling her in close, taking in the smell of her hair and the comforting feel of her body. After a few moments he got down on his knees to kiss her stomach.

As he felt Hermione's hands run through his hair, and Ron realized how magical this moment truly was. After everything they had been through, being alive and together seemed like all they could possibly have ever dared to hope for. He had thought they had it all, a baby was more then they could have possibly dreamed of.

Head gently pressed against Hermione's stomach, Ron whispered, "this is everything."

From that moment, and for the term of the pregnancy, there was an unspoken agreement that the most important thing was making sure that Hermione was safe. They had the safety of their unborn child to think about.

The unspoken agreement between the two became spoken the day they took their beautiful redheaded baby girl home from St. Mungo's.

"Ron," Hermione began, broaching the subject shortly after they put Rose down in the basinet. Ron had his arms wrapped around her as the two looked lovingly down on the small child they had created. "If it happens again…" she trailed off. Ron knew exactly what she was talking about by the tone of her voice.

He nibbled her ear, trying to distract her. This was the absolutely last thing he wanted to talk about right now.

She was onto him though, and was determined to lay down the rules immediately. They needed a plan. "Ron, if we are ever attacked again, I don't want to waste time fighting with you. She is more important. Whoever is closer to her should disapperate and get her someplace safe."

Ron frowned "Hermione, she will always need her mother. You will just take her, no matter what."

"No. I won't argue about this. What if you are sitting in the nursery with her and I'm in the kitchen? This is bigger than just us now." Hermione argued.

Ron sighed. He really did not want to talk about this at all. Frowning at his wife, and stealing a glance at his Rosie, Ron left the nursery. To Ron it was as though just thinking about this near his daughter was exposing her to unknown dangers and unforeseen attacks. It felt like a bad omen and made him nauseous to think about. He slowly walked towards the kitchen, knowing Hermione would be after him soon, and sat down kitchen table. Frustrated, he ran his fingers through his hair, before crossing his arms and placing his head down.

After making sure Rose was asleep, Hermione joined him. She didn't say anything at first, but prepared two cups of tea, handing him one before sitting across from him.

"I know about the threats." She said, taking a sip from her cup and watching for his reaction. His head popped up from its position and he looked at her. Her eyes didn't seem to shown concern of frustration, just knowledge of this fact. He frowned.

"how.."

"I found out when I started with the Department. It comes with the security clearance." Hermione explained.

"Nothing has had merit, believe me, we've chased down every single one." Ron started. "That's the only reason I didn't tell you."

Hermione smiled warmly. "I know. I knew you'd tell me if anything was serious." Hermione was referring to the threats against not only Ron and her, but on Harry and his family as well. In fact, the bulk of the threats were aimed at Harry. The Auror department handled every threat against them as if it were coming from Voldemort himself. Everything was thoroughly investigated for its merits.

"They are almost always just those from Voldemort's Army who are bitter things didn't go their way." Ron explained.

"Ron, I know." Hermione interrupted, seeing the worry lines across her husbands face. "Drink your tea."

"Dousing me with calming draught?" Ron asked, as he took a sip.

"I don't need too. Tea calms you down even when it's draught free." Hermione said with a smile. After a couple minutes passed, and once the tension in Ron's shoulder's lightened a bit, Hermione spoke again.

"It just means we do need to be smart about these things if there ever is an attack on us. We need a plan so that our little girl is safe." Hermione said.

"Well, let's hear it then. What's the plan?" Ron said, trying to keep the frustration in his voice to a minimum.

"Whoever is closer to her, should diaspperate with her to Bill and Fluer's and then return to help the other."

"Put some thought into this, haven't you, luv?" Ron replied, this time unable to keep the frustration hidden.

"Yes, Ronald, I have. It would be ignorant not too. We aren't a normal family. We are two of the _saviors of the wizarding world_." She emphasized the last bit with a sarcastic tinge to her voice. "And anyone, and I mean anyone, who has studied History of Magic knows that there has always been and will always be dark wizards. We wouldn't need the Auror department if there wasn't."

Ron sighed. Hermione was right. She was always right. Especially when it came to things like History of Magic. Ron would bet that she could probably name every dark wizard since the founding of Hogwarts if he asked her too. He was almost tempted to see if she could…

Deciding she would probably get annoyed with him for going off topic again, he opted not to ask her. Instead he took another sip of his tea.

"Do we have any calming drought on hand?" He asked, breaking the tension, she gave him a reproachful look before smiling. A few more seconds passed when he spoke again, "Just a point of interest, why Bill and Fluer's?"

"I figure that we would be expected to go to Harry and Ginny's, and I've always found Shell Cottage to be a safe harbor." Before Ron could dwell on the memories of Shell Cottage, Hermione continued, "plus Bill and Fleur are pretty powerful, if you had to bring two people back to help, wouldn't they be pretty useful? I always forget how talented Fleur is, but she was a triwizard champion after all."

"But she couldn't get passed 'ze grindylows!'" Ron said, breaking the tension and the two laughed at the memory.

Ron got up from the table, strolled along the side, tracing his hand first along the table, then up his wife's arm, where he settled and placed his arms around his wife. "Do we have a plan?" she asked.

After a long time, Ron responded, "Yeah, we do."

Later that evening, after Hermione had fallen asleep, Ron lay awake. He was horribly distraught by the idea of anything threatening Hermione or Rose. His girls. He couldn't bare the thought of leaving Hermione behind, but also knew that he could not, under any circumstances, leave Rose in any position of danger.

It was terrible that they needed this arrangement, nay, this emergency plan. Voldemort was gone, shouldn't they be able to live safe and happy? Was it fair that they needed to still be on guard? Why should anything threaten his beautiful family?

But Ron's depression soon passed as no attacks came. Husband, wife and baby girl Rose were thriving and beyond happy. In fact the pact was all but forgotten until Hugo Weasley was born. Now, with a little girl and baby boy to call their own, their children's safety was paramount. The agreement remained in place.

Another year went by, as peaceful as anyone could hope

_Thanks for stopping by! Reviews really make me happy and inspire me to keep writing so please submit one! Also any constructive criticism is more than welcome!_


	3. Darkness Rises

**Authors Note: Thank you so much to all my reviewers! I really appreciate it! **

**So this chapter brings us to present day, and is giving some background on what is going on in the wizarding world. Harry's in this chapter as well, in case any of you missed him! Please enjoy, and let me know how you feel about it!**

**Chapter 3: Darkness Rising**

_Present Day_

Ron was late for work. 'Actually' Ron thought, 'perhaps it would be more accurate to say I'm late for work AGAIN'. He sighed to himself, glancing at his wristwatch as he darted through the crowd at the ministry atrium and headed towards the lift. No matter how hard he tried, he just has never been and will never be a morning person.

During Auror training, the trainees were expected to be ready for cardio training at 0600 hours every morning. Waking up that early was Ron's own private hell. It was enough to make him quit before he even began. It didn't make much sense to him either. Ron didn't see any added benefit to doing his workouts at 0600 that he wouldn't get if he did the exact same thing at 0900. He'd much rather start a bit later and make up for it by working a bit later.

Ron would have been late to training on a pretty daily basis, if he could be. He figured that if being on the run for a year hunting horcruxes, being instrumental in the fall of Voldemort, and being the right hand man to the Chosen One didn't allow you a little leeway for being on time for cardio training, what on earth was it good for?

During training he had managed to make it on time almost every day. No thanks to him, of course, instead it was Harry, noble and humble Harry, who didn't want them to get "special treatment." The two friends had been living together at the time and Harry would pretty much drag his arse out of bed and force him to get to training at least close to the 0600 whistle.

It wasn't as though Ron was lazy. He was actually one of the hardest working and most talented in the Aurors in the department. Even during training he had almost all the fastest times. He was just very efficient.

"I'd rather run the five kilometer fast and have it over and done with than spend the extra time jogging back with you." He joked to Harry. "Shorter timed run equals shorter time in pain."

"It's those bloody gangly legs of yours. I have to work twice as hard just to keep up with you." Harry said, bitterness clearly obvious in his voice, as he would be doubled over to catch his breath.

His efficiency translated from his training times and into the workplace. His quality of work was excellent, so his boss could overlook the fact that he was rarely on time in the morning.

Today, Ron was only about 15 minutes late. Not terrible, considering he had been working late into the evening the night before. Nevertheless, his masterplan was to sneak into his office undetected and set up as if he had been there for the last half hour.

Unfortunately for Ron, it's difficult to sneak in when you are 6'2 and a red head.

"YOU ARE LATE, WEASLEY." His boss, Auror James Winslow, barked at him, crossing the room towards Ron's office. Winslow was a bulldog of a man. He was a full six inches shorter than Ron, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in solid build. He was much older than Ron, having been a prefect at Hogwarts when Bill had been starting his first year. Winslow didn't speak about his involvements in the second war very often. Ron, from his own digging, knew that Winslow had been instrumental in protecting dozens of muggleborn witches and wizards that he had taken into hiding. For this, Ron liked him.

"Or early, depends on what time you were expecting me." Ron replied quietly with a smug grin. He knew that Auror Winslow was more or less yelling at him for show. He wasn't in trouble, but it didn't look good if he could show up late without any reprimand.

Ron entered his office, with Winslow close behind him.

Harry, of course, was already sitting at his desk. The two shared a large office with two desks on opposite sides of the room. A few interoffice memos were already hovering around Ron's desk, right over the picture of Hermione on their wedding day. She beamed up at him from the frame, and Ron let his eyes linger on her face for a few seconds before rounding on Harry and glaring at him. Harry just blinked back at him with his 'what? I wasn't doing anything. I'm just the humble chosen one' face on.

"Ah, knew Potter would be here on time." Winslow said, causing Ron to glare at him again. Harry just shrugged and smiled before Winslow shut the door before rounding on them.

"Brief me." Winslow said, dropping the annoyance at Ron now that they were in the privacy of their office.

"We met with informant beta last _night_." Ron started, emphasizing the fact that he was working, far after hours. "From what he can gather, it sounds like a meeting is taking place at the end of the month. No information about where, although he said they were discussing getting new parkas for cheap, so we are thinking someplace cold." Ron started. Harry and Ron had been on a recon mission the night before. Informant beta, was Mundungus Fletcher, still useful because he always had his ears to the ground. They made it a habit of never referring to their informant's by their real names, even when it was in private.

Ron, over the years, had learned exactly what Mundungus was useful for. You don't put him on guard duty or leave him with anything valuable, that had been Dumbledore's mistake. That didn't make him useless. The man ran in some unsavory circles, and when your associates are the type of people that Mundungus's were, you pick up on a thing or two having a firewiskey and keeping your ear's open.

"What concerns me" Harry added, "is not that they are having a meeting. It's that they keep talking about this 'governor.'"

Ron and Harry had picked up intelligence not long ago about an upcoming meeting of they type who were nostalgic for the way things had been under Voldemort.

This was not terribly alarming and meetings were not illegal, per se. However, the Auror's liked to keep a watch on them. Mostly the meetings were grumbling and venting, reminiscing about their positions of the past. Harry was right, though, this governor talk was alarming.

It had to be an individual, and from the sounds of it, he ("or she!" he could practically hear Hermione yell) was getting some respect and some reverence among a very easily influenced and bitter crowed.

Bitter former snatchers were one thing. Snatchers rallying around a leader, was something else entirely.

"Are we thinking raid?" Winslow asked. Raids were risky and often dangerous. They could result in arrests, but only if there was proof that something was being plotted.

Harry looked thoughtful.

"Ron and I discussed this a bit last night. A raid could set us back if we want to get more information about the governor. We don't know if he…"

"or she" Ron interrupted, still hearing Hermione's voice in his head. It was Harry's turn to glare at him.

"or she." Harry repeated. "We don't know if he or she is calling this meeting. I'm concerned about rallying behind a leader. We need to find out who this individual is, what they are up to, and take them out if necessary."

Winslow nodded.

"Prepare a report and a proposed plan of action, 9 a.m. tomorrow morning you'll present it to the team leaders." Winslow said, and with a nod, was out the door.

The Auror's were broken up into six groups, each with distinct missions and zones of responsibility. They weren't broken up by skill or by seniority, but instead by compatibility. New Aurors would often shuffle around until they found a group that fit. Each group had a team leader, Winslow was Ron and Harry's, and the department head (a wizard called Marcus Williamson) oversaw the entire organization. When there was a serious threat, all six team leaders would be briefed first, then the department head. A plan would be implemented and then briefed to the entire department.

Apparently Winslow was considering the talk of the governor serious. Or, at least serious enough to warrant a presentation.

Ron sat in his chair, plopped his feet up, and turned to Harry.

"Guess we didn't need to tell him we did the report complete with a plan of action already last night."

Harry laughed. "Guess not."

The plan that Harry and Ron had detailed was simple enough in theory although more difficult to execute. They needed more information about the governor for a threat assessment to be made. They knew that there was a meeting being planned, but they didn't know much about it.

After the meeting with Mundungus the night before, the two had returned to Harry's home where they sat at his kitchen table until the wee hours of the morning working out a plan. Ron had said almost immediately that there was only one clear option in his eyes. They had to have an undercover agent at the meeting.

Easy concept, not so easy when they didn't know _where_ the meeting was being held and had only a ballpark of _when_ it was. Then there was the small problem of putting an agent into a meeting where they had no idea who would be there, how many were told of this meeting, or if there was any need to know information such as a password or a sign.

Ron and Harry had been up late into the night working out a very detailed course of action, which Ron was quite proud off.

"Does this mean I can catch up on sleep at the office today?" Ron said, while stretching out his limbs, extending them in all different directions.

"Dunno if I'd go that far mate," Harry laughed. "But look on the bright side, since we are prepared for tomorrow already, might as well make some headway and then get home at a reasonable hour. I'm sure Hermione is pissed at me for keeping you out so late last night."

"Nah, she'd rather we work at your house then ours. Did you know she caught Rosie trying to listen in on us last time? She's inherited Hermione's brains and my inability to stay away from the thick of things. We could have our hands full with that combination." Ron laughed.

"Besides," he said. "Hermione is just happy we are somewhere physically safe."

Harry smiled, before returning to the mountain of paperwork in front of him. Step one of their plan involved going through all past tips and complaints that had been submitted the department over the last year to determine if there was any information that synced up to their present concerns.

Ron looked at the mountain of paperwork and sighed. Today was the worst kind of day in his opinion, just a long day, sitting at his desk, going through tons of paperwork.

**Thanks for stopping by and checking out chapter three. I know it's a bit short, but I needed to put the background in before the action started and this seemed like a logical place to end this chapter. (Next chapter will be longer, promise). I think it's quite obvious where things are heading, and next chapter you will see some action. Please let me know what you think! I appreciate reviews so so so much (constructive criticism very welcome). Love my readers! **


	4. Safe and Sound

**Authors Note: Sorry for the delay. I was without internet for the last couple days, which was not part of the plan, but fortuitous apparently since it's RON'S BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RON WEASLEY! Anyway, I hope you all are enjoying. I really appreciate all the nice things people have said!**

**Just a note: I am well aware my grammar is a weak point. I read through everything before I post it, but sometimes I just don't catch things! I am in the market for a beta, so if anyone knows someone who is good/interested, please let me know! I hope you continue to enjoy this chapter! Please review.**

**Chapter 4: Safe and Sound**

"Come on Rosie, finish your cereal" Hermione pleaded to her daughter while simultaneously balancing her year-old son on her hip. The children were being fussy this morning, and Hugo didn't want to eat either. Rose, her three-year-old daughter looked back at her and pouted.

"But It's gone soggy, mum!" she said, pushing around the cereal in her bowl.

"It wouldn't have gone soggy if you had eaten it quicker, darling." Hermione replied, a smile on her lips. Ron would be finished getting dressed any minute, and he was a softy when it came to Rose. He would pour her a new bowl of cereal, a new non-soggy bowl of cereal, and Rose knew it. All Rose had to do was wait till her father was finished getting ready, and she would get a fresh bowl. Hermione really hated wasting food and she knew that her only chance at making sure the first bowl didn't get thrown out, was to get Rose to finish it prior to Ron emerging from the bedroom.

"Please Rosie, finish eating so we can go to Aunt Ginny's"

Hermione was trying to get her children ready to go to Ginny and Harry's for the day. Ginny had offered to watch the children two days a week so Hermione could get back into the office part time. It must have been a mad house over there with all five children, two of whom were infants, but Ginny seemed to have inherited Molly's ability to control a wild household.

Hermione didn't quite get it. Although she was a great mother who loved her children as well as her nieces and nephews, the thought of five children running around made her a bit queasy.

Rose brightened at this request and began eating her soggy cereal much quicker. Rose, Hermione knew, had a unique bond with her cousin Albus. The two were the more thoughtful and mild-mannered of the Weasley clan. James, to Harry's concern and Ginny's amusement, was a much louder boy who was much more of a prankster. He was much closer with George and Angelina's children, Fred and Roxanne.

Hermione smiled at the memory of the last borrow gathering. The already large Weasley family had expanded greatly, much to Molly's pleasure. There had been children everywhere, and the burrow had been so full of life.

Unlike the trips to the borrow that Hermione remembered from her youth, when she and Harry had stood out as the only ones without red hair, the family had grown into a much more diverse array of hair color. Both James and Albus had inherited their father's jet-black hair to Ginny's red. And Victorie was a blond!

'Both of my children got the Weasley red' she thought with a smile, ruffling Hugo's ginger locks. 'And I wouldn't have it any other way.'

A creak from outside caught Hermione's attention, but she quickly brushed it off, distracted, and Hugo spit out his food again.

"Ron!" she called out to her husband. "You are going to be late!" In fact they both were going to be late if they didn't get a move on. She had about 30 minutes before she was expected to be at her desk, and despite the instant nature of floo powder, she knew that it was going to take about 30 minutes just to get her children settled at Harry and Ginny's.

Ron, probably wouldn't be in bed anymore, but he was always going to be the last to be ready in the morning. No matter how many years passed, Ronald Weasley was just not a morning person. Hermione had accepted this.

It was almost lucky they had young children now, or Ron probably wouldn't let her get out of bed either and the couple would never been on time for work.

"I'll be ready in a second!" Ron called back. He was in the bedroom, straightening out his Auror robes. He actually did need to be on time today. The presentation in front of the team leaders was starting at 0900 hours, with or without him. Harry would kill him if he had to start alone, since Ron was the strategist and almost the entire plan had been Ron's. He would get there on time if it killed him.

Ron's musings were interrupted by what he could have sworn was movement from outside. He reached for his wand; sure he was just being paranoid, but if there was one thing he learned during his Hogwarts years with Harry and then with the Auror's it was to always trust your instincts. He glanced out the bedroom window, in the direction of the noise, but saw nothing.

Just as he glanced outside, the sound of the front door being blown off his hinges shook him to his very core.

Hermione felt her adrenaline kick in instantly. Hugo began crying at the noise, and Rose began screaming at the top of her lungs

Ron bolted out of the bedroom, wand out, and saw two hooded men in the entryway to their small home.

He glanced over to the kitchen and made eye contact with his wife, who was holding a screaming Hugo. Without a word, without any hesitation, and with no more than one second of eye contact with Ron, Hermione picked up Rose as well and turned on the spot, disappearing from site.

"We'll just have to settle for you, Weasley." One of the men spoke to him.

Two against one, but Ron liked his odds. He was a skilled Auror, had been in many fights outnumbered and came out victorious. Knowing Hermione and the children were safe and sound was all he needed to keep him focused on the fight.

Hermione.

Then, Ron did something that wasn't agreed upon. It wasn't part of their arrangement. He cast a non-verbal spell, which blocked the few people who were able to apparate into their home.

Hermione wouldn't be able to apparate back inside.

She would kill him, but it was worth it. Ron didn't want to worry about her safety. If things took a turn for the worse, their babies needed a parent. They needed their mother.

Ron quit his musing to dive behind the counter as a stunning spell lit up the wall in red where his head had been a moment before.

* * *

><p>Hermione landed on the outskirts of Shell Cottage at the apparition point about 100 yards from the house. Almost all of the Weasley's and their spouses had set up these points at specific locations around their homes. They were set up so that family and friends could use them at will; despite the numerous protective enchantments surround their respective homes. Still holding her children, who were crying more loudly now from the discomfort of apparation, she began sprinting towards the house.<p>

"BILL!" she screamed as she ran "BILL!" The children were positively wailing, but Hermione had no choice but to block out their cries.

Bill burst from the front door, wand at the ready, but lowered it when he saw Hermione. Pausing only to shout for his wife that something was wrong, he ran to meet Hermione.

"What is it? Where is Ron?" He asked reaching out and taking Rose from Hermione's arms. Fluer was running to meet them, and arrived as Hermione began talking.

"Men broke into the house. I don't know who they are. Needed to get the kids out safe. Watch them, I need to go back and help him." Hermione said all this really fast while handing baby Hugo to Fleur.

"Oh no you don't." Bill said, grabbing her arm. "You stay here with Fleur and the kids. I'll go help Ron."

"I'm not arguing this with you" Hermione said, eyes shooting daggers at Bill. "I'm going."

Bill nodded. He knew his youngest brother would be annoyed that he let Hermione come back but he also knew he had no chance of arguing with her. More importantly, they were wasting time.

Bill handed Rose to Fleur. "I'm going with her." Fleur nodded, she would have gone too, but someone needed to stay with the children.

Hermione reached out to grab Bill's hand, and turned to disapperate.

She felt like she ran into a wall and was momentarily disoriented. Her disorientation soon transformed into horror. She knew what that feeling was.

"No you didn't, Ron," she whispered. Bill looked at her, startled.

She tried again. Another Wall. They were still standing in front of shell cottage. Fluer looked at them quizzically.

"What iz it?" Fleur asked, her French accent becoming more pronounced when she spoke quickly.

"Mum?" Victorie had come out of the house to see what all the yelling was about, followed closely by her sister Dominque.

"Wait inside!" Fluer called back to them, just as Hermione began panicking.

"He blocked me from getting back in." Hermione yelped, the shock was evident in her voice. "That wasn't part of the plan."

Bill didn't have time to question what plan. He was already thinking of alternate ways to get to his brother. He glanced over at his own children, who of course, were not going back inside and knew in that instant exactly what his brother had done, because it's exactly what he would have wanted if it had been him. He would want Fluer and the kids out of danger, with no way back in.

"I bet he put a charm just over the house. We'll apparate as close to the house as we can get. Try your apparation point." Bill suggested.

Hermione nodded, grabbed Bill once again and turned on the spot. Still nothing

"Damnit Ron." Bill whispered.

Then, without wasting another second, Bill casted a Patronus. "Ron and Hermione's under attack. Meet me there." His patrons, an eagle, soared off and split into two. Hermione glanced at him quizzically.

"Harry and George. Ron's fighting, he needs our help." Bill explained.

Hermione nodded, new determination waved into her. Ron was fighting. Her Ron. She needed to help him. She grabbed Bill's hand again and turned on the spot.

This time it worked. They had crashed too the ground about a quarter mile away from Ron and Hermione's place.

Without even pausing to glance at Bill, Hermione took off into a full sprint.

a/n: Thanks for checking it out! Please leave a review!


	5. Taken

**Chapter 4: Taken**

Ron was doing rather well for himself. He smiled slightly. One of his attackers lay unconscious in a bloodied heap.

But the other was fighting to kill.

But his home, the beautiful home that Hermione and he had built together, that Hermione had decorated with the warmth of the Gryffindor common room and the love of the borrow, was being blown to pieces. Every time a spell hit an object and it shattered, Ron felt as though his heart was breaking.

A large hole in the wall allowed him to see outside into their backyard. The curse, which had exploded through the wall, had continued straight through and destroyed the swingset that he had just set up for Rose last spring.

Just as Ron dodged a killing curse, two new men charged through the now broken front door.

"OUR ORDERS WERE TO CAPTURE! NOT KILL" One of the new arrivals yelled, seeing the green light miss Ron once more.

"It's not like they will know we killed him!" the original fighter yelled indignantly.

Ron tried to figure out what this meant. Someone ideally wanted him alive. Alright, this wasn't just a revenge killing. What did they want? Ransom? Maybe, but then it didn't matter if he did die because "they" wouldn't know? Who were they? Ron tried to think about what some open cases at work were, and any reason he would be a target.

"You're here, does that mean you got him?" the original fighter asked the two new arrivals.

"Yes. I'm surprised he was easier to grab then this one. But he came willingly, so we wouldn't hurt the girl and the children."

Ok, this was important too. They had someone else. So now they were ideally supposed to take him alive and he wasn't the sole target. But who did they have? Was it someone he knew? Probably. Harry? Bill? George? Neville? Ron tried to take advantage of their distraction to shoot a stunning spell at the one who was talking. The spell caused the two new arrivals to separate and duck behind different pieces of furniture.

One against three now, and they were here for a reason. This wasn't some revenge killing, they had motive. They were organized, and that changed things. Ron briefly thought of the investigation that he and Harry were assigned too and wondered if this attack was related to the governor.

Ron shook his head to clear it. He couldn't worry about work or his investigation right now. He had to live through this first. Plus, these three guys had someone, and Ron had to figure out who.

As they continued bickering amongst themselves, Ron decided to again take advantage of their distraction and shot another stunning spell at one of the new arrivals. A thud let him know he hit his target. 'Not bad, Weasley' he thought to himself, he was back to the original two to one ration.

"_AVADA KEDAVRA_" another killing curse aimed at Ron. 'so much for capture, not kill' he mused as he dived out of the way again, the green spell lighting up the wall where he had been moments before.

"NOT KILL" the remaining conscious new arrival screamed.

"We have Potter. What does it matter if the bloodtraitor lives? Him and the mudblood were always just a bonus to the plan."

Ron felt his heart drop to his stomach when he heard them say Potter. They had Harry. After years of protecting him from Voldemort, years of keeping him safe, these goons had caught him. Plus, they weren't just targeting him, they wanted Hermione as well. Ron felt himself getting angry, both because they had Harry, but also because the word mudblood was never to be spoken under his roof. And these bastards just said it. They were still in his home.

Ron cast a powerful blasting spell at the table where the remaining original man had ducked. He usually wouldn't have cast this particular spell in his own home, but the fact that they had Harry changed things. The spell hit the table and blew it to bits. The man who was ducking behind it, the original fighter, was thrown across the room and into the wall. A bit of wood from the table was impaled in his side.

There was one man now left standing, and Ron realized this was his chance.

The last remaining man looked over at his bleeding co-conspirator in horror and Ron walked out from where he had been concealed. Wand out. This intimidation tactic was one he learned in the Auror training. Reduce the numbers, show your power, and then get the information you want.

"_Expelliarmus_" Ron yelled, and the wand in the man's hand flew to the floor near Ron. Weaponless, and with three of his partners in various states of unconsciousness and injury nearby, the last remaining man would be forced to answer his questions

Ron grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him into the wall behind him. Ron brought his face within mere inches of his attackers; wand aimed at his head, and seethed "Who are you working for?"

"Get your hands off me, you filthy bloodtraitor" The man hissed back. His hood had fallen off during the fray, but Ron did not recognize the man at all. He was older than Ron was with silvery hair. His eyes were a blood red. A charm, perhaps, or some form of transfiguration.

"Let me try this again, your one chance… ONE CHANCE... at seeing tomorrow is to tell me who you work for and where Harry is. I won't even let you live for the pleasure of Azkaban"

Show your power and hide your weakness. These were lessons he learned in Auror training. On the inside Ron was panicked and truly terrified. He had vowed to keep Harry safe, and he had done so since he was 11 years old. And now, after surviving the chamber of secrets, the triwizard tournament, countless death eaters, and Voldemort himself, these stupid bloody thugs had captured Harry. Inside, he was scared out of his mind. On the outside, he kept his façade that of controlled anger.

"RON" he heard a scream from outside their home. He would know that voice anywhere. Hermione had found her way inside the wards and into the home. From the sound of it, she was running down the street.

"I'M FINE, STAY OUTSIDE" he yelled, not wanting to compromise his position and wanting her to stay as far away as possible.

"Wifey came back to rescue you?" The man with the silver hair taunted.

"That's a bit rich coming from a man in your position" Ron growled back.

Intent on getting information out of the man he held, and distracted by Hermione's yell from outside, Ron had failed to realize was that the man he had stunned shortly after the arrival of Harry's capturers had come too. He picked up a piece of wood from the blown apart table and crept up behind Ron.

"Say Goodnight, bloodtraitor" the newly awaken man whispered, and then slammed the wood hard against Ron's head.

Ron abruptly dropped both the man he was holding and his wand. The tides had turned so fast, and he was just clinging to consciousness. He didn't even have a minute to realize what had happened, before the piece of wood struck him again, and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Hermione ran into the home, wand at the ready, to see two men disappear with her unconscious husband.<p>

"No, no, no" Hermione whispered. "Not Ron. Not Ron."

She was standing there completely stunned when Bill finally caught up with her and entered the home.

"Bloody hell" Bill muttered looking around and seeing the destruction. The home was in ruins. Two men lay on the ground; one bleeding heavily but seemingly alive while the other, clearly dead with a long piece of wood through his side that looked like it once belonged to a table.

"I thought I heard him," Bill mumbled to no one in particular.

Hermione was too horrified to speak. She had heard him too. She feared, beyond any ability to verbalize, that her yelling distracted Ron and lost him the upper hand.

She felt her heartbeat speeding up. Ron had been taken away from her. Ron was hurt, and she couldn't help him.

"How did they get out of here? We couldn't apparate in, how would they apparate out?"

"Portkey" Hermione barely was able to breathe it out. "They took him with a portkey."

Hermione was reeling. Was it just this morning that Ron had kissed her awake. Was it just hours ago that her biggest concern for the day was to get Rose to eat her cereal? Her breathing was speeding to match her now rapid heart rate. She couldn't get enough oxygen.

Bill noticed her distress. "Not now Hermione. Not yet. One of them is alive. We need to alert Kinglsey, get him questioned and get this place investigated now."

Hermione nodded. He was right. She could fall apart later.

"RON! HERMIONE!" A new arrival yelled from outside the home. Hermione looked over her shoulder to see Ginny Weasley, no, Ginny Potter burst through what was left of the front door. Whatever Ginny was about to say seemed to get lost as she took in the destruction around her. Her hands clasped over her mouth as if she was going to be physically ill.

Right behind her was George Weasley. He had rolled up his sleeves and had his wand out, clearly ready to fight. He took stopped short at the destruction. A quick glance around the room confirmed his fears. Ron was not there.

As soon as Ginny appeared alone, Hermione knew they had Harry as well. There was no way, no way at all, after the patronus Bill sent, that Harry wouldn't be here if he could be. Bill must have thought the same thing, because he immediately dispatched another few patronus's before rounding on the two distressed women.

"I've alerted the minister and some others. Everyone should be arriving soon. We will find them." Bill said, soothingly, before embracing his baby sister.

"They have Harry." Ginny confirmed what they knew as soon as she arrived without him.

"We'll find them," Hermione reiterated. Her voice sounded strong, stronger than expected. Because Bill was right and she couldn't fall apart yet. Ron needed her.

Hermione summoned a chair, one of the few that had not been destroyed, and placed it in the center of the kitchen. Then she pointed her wand at the still breathing intruder. Bill jerked forward slightly as if to stop her, but then seemed to restrain himself.

"_wingardium leviosa_" she whispered, and the man was raised from the ground and into the seat.

It was time for some answers. "Someone tell Kinglsey to bring some veritaserum."

A/N: Eeeep! Poor Ron is going to have a headache. And poor Harry as well. Thanks for stopping by and checking this story out! Please let me know if you like how this story is heading... I'm open to suggestions, responses and constructive criticism. Also while you are at it, check out my other story of the week, Real Problems, and let me know what you think of it (shameless plug, i know, but really, reviews make me SO HAPPY!)


	6. Brothers

**I'm super excited that I've reached 20 reviews for this story. Thanks everyone who has reviewed it and set a story alert! It really makes my day. I just wanted to send an extra special thanks to rhmac12 who has loyally reviewed every chapter (thankyouthankyou!) and avid reader (who i'm updating quickly for, because I'm a bit scared of... KIDDING), you guys are the best!**

**Still looking for a Beta :)**

**Chapter 5: Brothers**

The weird thing of it was, Harry was not remotely scared. If anything, he was really hacked off.

Sure, he had been scared earlier. Terrified actually, when the two men broke into his home just as he was about to leave for work. He had been reaching for the floor powder, focusing on the presentation he was expected to give at 0900, when he heard the door being blown off its hinges. He turned around, wand at the ready, but it was too late. Two men had already entered his home and had taken aim.

One man had aimed at Ginny, who was holding baby Lily. Ginny clutched Lily to her chest and arched to the side, instinctive shielding her child from the man's wand. In a split second of horror, Harry thought of another redhead, a different Lily. A Lily who had put her body between a different wand and a different baby.

The other man, with silvery white hair and a matching beard, had pointed his wand at three-year-old Albus, who had been sitting at the kitchen table. Just when Harry didn't think his terror could hit new heights, James, five-year-old James, ran over and stomped on the silver haired man's toes. This caused the man, in a rage, to pick up James by his collar and point his wand away from Albus, but instead at James's head.

"STOP" Harry demanded, holding up his wand in a cease-fire gesture "I'll come with you. Quietly. Just leave them alone."

Lily and Albus were crying. However James, despite being lifted four feet in the air by a stranger, seemed stoic, even calm. His eyes meet his fathers and Harry knew, right then, that some how the five year old understood the gravity of the situation. Harry knew that James had intentionally taken Albus's place in the line of fire.

Had he more time to appreciate this, he would have been immensely proud of his son. For all the teasing James did, he took his mother's message, "you look out for Albus" very seriously.

"Hand over your wand" the man aiming at Ginny said, and without any hesitation, Harry rolled his wand along the ground toward him. The man snatched it up and placed it in his robe. There was nothing Ginny could do. She had placed her wand down on the couch when she had picked Lily earlier that morning.

"Put my son down" Harry demanded. James was placed back on the ground. James immediately ran over to Albus, and put his arms around his little brother and began soothing him the best he could.

Harry walked toward them. "Alright, leave them and lets go" Harry said. The two men grabbed him, one on each arm. His green eyes met Ginny's terrified ones. He sent her what he hoped was a reassuring smile, as the silver haired man took out an old hairbrush. Harry felt the familiar tug at his naval as he was taken away from his family by portkey.

* * *

><p>When they landed, Harry realized that the portkey brought them to a warehouse of sorts. He didn't recognize it. It was big, maybe about the size of the great hall. There was very little in it, a few tables and chairs and what looked like a makeshift kitchen. Harry quickly did a survey of the space and saw four doors. Two were ajar and one seemed to lead to a bunkroom, while the other, a bathroom. That left two currently closed doors that could possibly lead to the outside. He was already plotting his escape.<p>

Harry turned to each of his captors to make sure he got a good look. There was the silver haired man. He was older than Harry, perhaps in his 50s. He had the look of a man who had once been powerful and great but was past his prime. He had performed some sort of charm to make his eyes a reddish color. Harry could tell it was a look designed to fright, but Harry just thought it looked stupid. If you're powerful enough, you don't need tricks like red eyes to appear frightening.

The other was younger. Perhaps Harry's age, yet Harry didn't recognize him. Not from school, nor any other place. When he spoke, Harry realized why.

"Thee othezers, they are not back yet." It was a thick accent. French perhaps? It reminded Harry vaguely of Fluer's accent. Either way, he was foreign.

The older man nodded and then conjured a clear box in the middle of the room. It was a large cube, about as big as Harry's kitchen was at home.

"In" the silver haired man demanded. Wand raised and pointed at Harry. Harry scowled but went into the clear box, which he now realized was meant to be a cage of sorts to keep him confined. It had a door shaped hole, which sealed up once he walked through him.

"We will go help them. I didn't think it would be this easy to grab Potter." The silver haired man told the younger wizard.

With that, the two disappeared, leaving Harry alone.

A quarter of an hour later, Harry had given up getting out of the box. His attempts seemed futile and his mind was now tasked to figuring out who these two men where and why they had brought him here. And yes, now Harry was no longer scared but just royally pissed off the situation. He had survived his teen years being hunted by Voldemort to be put in a box by two punk-wannabes?

Ron would get a kick out of that.

He figured that by now Ginny had to have gone to get help. She would have gone straight to Ron and Hermione, of course. They would have alerted the order and perhaps the ministry as well. They might choose to do this quietly amongst their friends as apposed to erupting the entire country into chaos to find their chosen one. Ron would have alerted Winslow, and if anything, their team would now be on a round the clock Potter mission.

His musings were getting repetitive when a whooshing sound of portkey arrivals caught his attention. They appeared together, two men, supporting a third.

That's when the anger, which Harry had been feeling for the last quarter hour, reverted back to sheer terror.

There was no mistaking the Weasley red hair. The third man, clearly unconscious and bleeding profusely from the head, was Ron.

"RON!" Harry screamed, banging on the side of the box. "YOU ANIMALS. WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM"

Harry was so distracted; he barely even realized that two men who returned were different than the two who left. The silver haired man was back, but the other was new man. They were also both clearly bruised and banged up and looking a bit scared even.

"STAND BACK" the silver hair man bellowed, pointing his wand at Harry. Harry was forced to retreat back away from the box's wall. The men cut the door back into the box, and threw Ron inside. Ron, clearly out cold, couldn't even put his hands down to brace himself. He landed painfully on the floor.

As soon as the men sealed back up the box and took their wand off him, Harry ran to his friend's side. He kneeled down besides him and gently rolled him onto his back. In doing so, Harry realized the blood was coming from a wound on the side of Ron's head. They had clearly hit him with something. The blood mixed with his red hair to form an orange and red congealed mess. The blood dripped down Ron's face, staining front of his Auror robes. They had clearly caught Ron on his way to work as well.

"Oh Ron." Harry whispered, placing his friend's head in his lap. "You better pull out of this. Don't die on me now." The amount of blood pouring out of the wound made Harry feel nauseous, and not because of the blood itself, but what this could mean for his best friend's health.

It would be just too horrendous to even contemplate. Loosing Ron now, after everything they had been through. And what had happened to Hermione? To Rose and Hugo? 'Merlin' Harry thought, 'please let nothing have happened to Hermione and the kids.'

His blood started boiling again as he though about Hermione and his niece and nephew. At least he knew Ginny and his own children were safe. Harry lay Ron back down and began banging on the side on the box.

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH US? GOLD? I'LL GIVE YOU AS MUCH AS YOU WANT, JUST LET ME GET HIM TO THE HOSPITAL" Harry yelled and pleaded.

The two men were alone. The silver haired man was the same as from before and the other was an older man with dark black hair. They ignored Harry's pleas, so instead Harry fell silent and decided to listen to what they were saying. He figured he might get some information as to what this was all about.

"Urmach is dead. When the bloodtraitor blew up the table, he was impaled by the leg" The silver haired man said to his companion. The companion nodded and waited a minute before speaking again.

"And Rowlin?" He asked.

"Unconscious, I think. Which isn't good as it means he is alive and in the hands of whomever was left at the house. The mudblood was just arriving when we left."

Harry growled a bit at the use of the word mudblood, but inside he was hopeful. That meant Hermione was all right. She must have gotten the children out of the house.

Noticing Harry was listening at them, the dark haired man cased a spell in the direction of the box and Harry couldn't hear them anymore.

Harry sighed, frustrated, and returned to Ron's side. Harry took off his own Auror robes, and used the sleeve to mop up some of the blood on Ron's face. After clearing off as much of the blood as he could without aggravating the wound, he bunched up the robes like a pillow, and slid them under Ron's head.

"Alright, you great prat. Time to wake up. You're scaring me." Harry whispered. There was no response from Ron. Harry felt his eyes burning with tears at the sight of his best friend. Harry hadn't cried in years. He had shed some 'manly tears' as Ginny called them, when his children were born and at his wedding (and at Ron and Hermione's wedding), but that was completely different.

This was Ron, Ron who had been a constant in Harry's life since he had been 11. His best friend who would take the killing curse for him, who was the godfather to his children, who had survived the war against bloody Voldemort fighting by Harry's side.

As Harry continued to stare at his grievously injured and unnaturally still best friend, he felt himself get more and more terrified.

"Please Ron, wake up" he whispered, but but Ron was completely lifeless and unresponsive. Harry watched the rise and fall of Ron's chest as if it were the life force tying him to sanity. Other than the head wound, Harry had no idea what other spells and curses his friend might be suffering from. Also, it didn't take a genius to figure out that a head injury resulting in that much blood could not possibly bode well.

Terror was radiating out of Harry as he couldn't help but picture all the other times he had seen Ron this still. He was eleven years old and back at McGonnagall's Chess set. He felt as helpless and scared as he did then. As Harry focused on Ron's breathing, he felt his own breaths speed up and he felt his own heart-rate speed up.

Harry was so bloody terrified, that he didn't notice a crack that appeared in the clear box.

**A/N: couldn't forget about Harry, could I? Please let me know what you think? Once again: constructive criticism is welcome. Next chapter I'll bring back Hermione (and Ginny). **


	7. Left Behind

Thanks to everyone sticking with this story. I really appreciate all your reviews, story alerts and private messages. Before we start, I just have a couple (important) thanks to dish out. **Witchofdarkness13**, for catching my uploading fail earlier this week. I really appreciate it. **Laughandlove**, for reminding me how to spell Fleur (I double checked it in this chapter), **smkffnut** for giving me your insight on Hermione, and I think you will see why when you read this (this was already written, but you inspired some tweaking) and **ShePotter**, I am glad you like it!

but the most important thank you goes to **_ObssessedRHShipper_**, who offered to be my beta for this chapter! Hopefully she will stick with me past just this chapter, and hopefully it will make this a better story and more enjoyable for those of you who are reading it. Words can't express my gratitude.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 7: Left Behind<strong>

As Hermione was moving the unconscious but still living intruder to the chair, Ginny's attention fell on the obviously dead man lying in the living room. Her eyes widened and she let out a gasp in recognition. She walked over to him quickly, with George following closely behind.

"This is the man who came to my house. He's one of the ones who threatened Lily and me," she said quietly. George glared down at the body lying by their feet and found himself thinking it odd how much he wanted to kill a man who was already dead. But this man had threatened not only his baby sister, but his niece and nephews as well. It made George's blood boil.

"Bastard," George whispered. "He must have dropped Harry off somewhere before coming here for Ron." Ginny nodded in response. After another second, George turned to walk away from the body, but instead of following him, Ginny reached down and opened the front of the man's robes.

"Gin…" George started, but as she pulled a wand from his robes, George abruptly stopped talking.

"It's Harry's," she stated, her voice uncharacteristically soft as she stared at the famous phoenix feather and holly wand. She was staring at it so intently; it was as if the wand was going to confess to her where its master had gone. "That bastard took it from Harry," she finished, her voice still soft.

"Gin, we will get him back. You know we will." George said, placing his arm on his sister's shoulders. "You will be able to give him his wand back, and he'll be thrilled that we have it. You know that man can't separate from his wand for a minute without acting as though he left his arm behind," George said, in an attempt to lighten the mood with a reference to Harry's paranoia, which despite the years that had passed since the war, had not let up much.

Harry still carried the wand with him everywhere, occasionally hexing people who had the misfortune of catching him by surprise. George actually suspected he slept with it, although certainly Ginny would know better than he would.

"I had thrown my wand down when I went to pick up Lily. She was being fussy. This never would have happened if I hadn't put it down." Ginny said, talking more to herself than to George. She had a contemplative look on her face. "Usually I always have it in my pocket," she said quietly.

"You can't blame yourself, Gin," George responded. "You had to put it down when you picked up the baby. Look, your outfit has no pockets!" He was right; Ginny, expecting a busy day with five children, had been wearing yoga pants that didn't have any pockets and an oversized Harpies t-shirt.

"No pockets," she repeated.

Suddenly, the contemplative look was washed away and replaced with rage. Before George could even figure out what was going on, Ginny abruptly turned around and rounded on Hermione and Bill.

Hermione had been restraining the unconscious man, while waiting for Kingsley to arrive with the Veritaserum. Bill had sent patronuses to James Winslow (Ron and Harry's team leader with the Aurors), and Neville, who unofficially kept account of the Order and DA members, as well as Arthur Weasley.

A separate patronus had been sent to Fleur and Angelina to let them know what had happened. Almost immediately after Harry had been taken from the Potter home, the eagle patronus Bill had sent out at Hermione's arrival at Shell Cottage informed Ginny of the attack there as well. Ginny had dropped off her children with Angelina, and she and George had apparated to Ron and Hermione's. Fleur and Angelina were no doubt clawing at the walls for information, but were restrained by all the children whom they were keeping safe.

Bill had sent out these messages while Hermione had checked the restraints again out of nerves more than anything else. Bill knew that a plan of action had to be implemented at once, before the press found out and the entire wizarding world went into a panic that two thirds of their heroes had been kidnapped.

Ginny rounded on Hermione, with such anger radiating from her it was surprising that her red hair was not smoking. "You just left him?" she spit out, her words like venom, catching Hermione by surprise.

"I… what?" Hermione started before biting her tongue. Ginny was hotheaded at the best of times. 'She is scared and lashing out,' Hermione said to herself, trying to calm herself down. She hadn't thought her heart could speed up any more than it had since she saw Ron disappear, but now she could feel it pounding through her entire body at the hate in Ginny's voice. Hermione took a deep breath and turned toward Ginny.

"How could you just leave him? Outnumbered?" Ginny said, voice rising. Hermione could feel the walls closing in on her. The room seemed to be getting smaller, and the air was getting thicker and harder to breath.

Hermione's first instinct was to fight back. She had a million things to retort. Specifically, she could start screaming that if Ginny hadn't been so unprepared, then perhaps she and Harry could have fought off his captors instead of having to surrender willingly. Or perhaps, Hermione could remind her that while she had gotten her children to safety, Harry's attackers had actually been able to threaten his children; from the sound of it, James actually had been restrained by one of them. Or maybe remind her that the only reason Ron was so badly outnumbered was because they had finished up with her and Harry so quickly.

Before either Bill or George could figure out what was happening, both women had their wands drawn on each other. George looked positively terrified at the two witches, which under any other circumstance Bill would have found funny. Ginny had always been a force to be reckoned with, but Hermione certainly didn't help take down Voldemort by smiling at him.

"Ginny..." Bill said, causing both women to turn to him. "Don't say something you're going to regret."

"Regret? She left your baby brother alone and outnumbered. Had she stayed it would have been a fair fight! She is a great dueler! She had her wand!" Ginny retorted, differentiating Hermione's choice from hers. Despite her angry words, Ginny turned away from Hermione and looked at Bill. Hermione followed suit.

"I had a wand on me and my baby; she was too worried about saving herself."

That was the last straw. Hermione did not deserve nor could she take the abuse from Ginny anymore.

"Do NOT talk about what you don't understand, Ginny, and don't you dare doubt my love for Ron. I would have gladly died for him, and he knows that, and that is why he blocked me from getting back into the house. We had a plan!" Hermione finally spoke back, her voice even like ice.

"My mistake…" she started and Ginny's eyes widened at the word, "Oh yes, Ginny, I made a mistake." Her even-toned voice began breaking down slightly. "I shouldn't have come back. Ron blocked me from getting back for a reason. I think… I think I distracted him…" Tears began to pour out of Hermione's eyes, and Bill wrapped her into a hug.

"Oh my... Bill… It's all my fault. He was fine until I had to start screaming his name," Hermione said, choking back sobs.

As Bill was comforting Hermione, the crack of apparition startled the four friends.

"I knew there was something wrong when Potter was late for their presentation. Potter is never late." Through the still broken front door came Kingsley Shacklebolt and James Winslow. Hermione knew who Winslow was, but had only interacted with him on a few occasions. Kingsley sighed audibly when he entered the home.

As he surveyed the damage, Hermione watched him closely. He was the Minister of Magic, but even with his increasingly busy schedule, Harry Potter would always come first. She knew that Kingsley also put Ron and herself first too, not just because of being the 'heroes,' but also because they had grown to be very close personal friends with the man.

Everyone watched Kingsley waiting for instructions. Hermione was digging her nails into the palm of her hand. Ginny was shuffling her weight from one foot to the other. George was looking anxious to get started while Bill had the stoic look of someone who couldn't afford to show any emotions at the moment.

Winslow was clearly itching to alert the Auror department head, which was the normal protocol; however, he knew the Minister's orders came first.

Perhaps sensing Hermione's anxiety or Winslow's desire to get started, Kingsley spoke in the calming tones that Hermione had grown to trust. "I think we should give it 24 hours to find them before we alert the entire Auror division and inevitably the press." he began.

"Winslow, you bring what's left of your team here to trace the spells and see what evidence you can find." Kingsley paused, glancing over the body that was still in the corner. "Have someone try and find out as much as they can of the dead man."

Turning to Ginny and Hermione, he spoke again. "I need you two to give the Aurors a complete description of what happened. They need to know anything you can remember about your attackers."

Ginny nodded, but Hermione spoke. "Minister, I want to be there when you interrogate him." She motioned to the man who was in the chair.

Another crack indicated the arrival of Neville and Arthur.

"What's going on? What's the plan?" Neville asked as soon as he and Arthur entered the room.

"We are going to find out what happened." Kingsley spoke. "And we are going to start with him." he said, jerking his wand towards the unconscious man.

**thanks for stopping by! please review and feel free to tell me what you think, good or bad! Constructive criticism and interpretations are always welcome**


	8. Against the Clock

**Thanks everyone who has been checking out this story. I can't begin to tell you how much I appreciate your comments and encouragement**

**Special thanks again to ObsessedRHShipper, who is really making this a better experience for me (as well as everyone reading this) by beta-ing (verb?) for me. It really smoothes out the story! I appreciate it so much.**

**Chapter 8: Against the Clock**

Harry hadn't moved from Ron's side. It felt like hours, but in actuality it had not been very long at all. Ron, usually the type who was always fidgeting and full of life, was unnaturally still. Although Harry had done the best he could to clean up some of the blood, he could still feel a nasty bump beginning to form where they hit him. Seeing Ron like this shook Harry to the very core.

Harry could no longer hear what the two men outside the box were saying, but they were huddled over a table talking to each other and looking incredibly nervous and uneasy. Harry's experience as an Auror led him to believe this was both good and bad.

Their nervous appearances made it obvious to him that things didn't go as planned for them, however that wasn't necessarily a good thing. Nervous and anxious wizards can become desperate wizards, and desperate wizards might make the decision to aim a killing curse at Ron and Harry and then disappear into hiding.

Harry couldn't focus on this for more than a few seconds without feeling ill, so he made the decision to ignore his captors for now and focus entirely on his friend.

Just when Harry thought he was going to go mad with worry, Ron suddenly grimaced and let out a low moan.

"Ron! Ron! Can you hear me?" It took everything in his power not to try to shake his friend awake.

"Her…my...knee?" When he heard Ron's voice, Harry actually laughed with relief. It was entirely too reminiscent of Ron's sixth year poisoning incident, but it was nonetheless fantastic to hear.

"It's me, Ron. Its Harry," Harry whispered, now trying to ease his friend back into consciousness. Ron's eyes fluttered open lazily. After blinking a few times, he made eye contact with Harry.

"Hi Harry," he said, a small smile played on his lips. Ron's eyes made him look tired, as if he hadn't slept in days. Harry was quick to realize this had something to do with Ron's recent head injury and journey back to consciousness, but that would definitely factor into their ability to escape.

"Welcome back to the land of the living," Harry said, keeping his voice low and trying to keep as calming of a tone as he possibly could.

"Mmmmm," Ron muttered, eyes fluttering shut once again.

"NO!" Harry shouted desperately, and Ron's eyes returned to their half-open state. "Please, Ron, try and stay awake for me. You might have a concussion and honestly, it's bloody terrifying to look at you when you are unconscious."

"Wha…" Ron's brow furrowed in confusion as his brain was clearly slow to process what was going on. As he slowly let his eyes drift around the room, he came to focus on one thing in particular. "You've got blood on you, Harry." His concern for his best friend still was present even in Ron's weakened state.

As Ron tried to move a bit to see where Harry was injured, he was abruptly stopped and held in place by Harry.

"It's your blood, Ron," Harry explained. "You took a nasty whack to the head."

"Oh," Ron replied. He was looking so lost and confused that Harry felt physically ill looking at him. How was he going to tell Ron that they were captured? That they were weaponless and alone?

As Harry was contemplating this, Ron jerked violently out of his Harry's grasp and quickly sat up. "Hermione. My children. What happened?" The panic was evident is both his voice and his eyes.

"I don't know," Harry started, but before he could get another word in edgewise, Ron was on his feet, hands pressed against the edge of the box. His movement caught their captors' attention, who glanced over at them momentarily, before resuming their discussion.

"Where the fuck are we, Harry?" Harry was absolutely dumbstruck by Ron's complete change in appearance. He went from half-conscious to ready to go to war in about three seconds flat.

"I don't know. I was brought here by silver fox over there," Harry said, indicating the older man with the red eyes and silver hair, "and another man. They left me here, and about a quarter of an hour later they came back with you." Harry paused, "Well, actually, the dark-haired guy was different. There was another younger man who brought me here. He didn't come back; that bloke did instead."

That triggered something in Ron and he nodded at Harry. Since he didn't say anything, Harry took that as a cue to continue talking.

"We had the presentation for the team leaders this morning. I was just about to leave when the two men busted through the door. I went with them so they wouldn't hurt Ginny or the kids," said Harry summing up his story pretty quickly.

Ron nodded but the movement seemed to be too much for him. He placed his hands to his head, and Harry saw him sway on his feet.

Harry was instantly by his friend's side. Harry guided him to the back of the box, the furthest side from where their captors were, and helped him sit back down so that Ron could lean with his back against the box's outer wall. He seemed to be once again teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Hermione brought the children to Bill and Fleur's," Ron said, voice weaker and softer than Harry was used to hearing from him. "They are alright. They are safe," he said, speaking to both Harry as well as himself.

"We've got to get out of here, Ron," Harry whispered, just in case their captors were now listening in. "I think you must have put up a hell of a fight. They do not look like things went according to plan."

Ron didn't respond, but instead sighed and leaned his head back against the wall. His eyes tilted toward the ceiling and then focused on something not five feet above him.

"Harry…" Ron lowered his voice even more. It was so low that Harry had to lean in even closer to make out his words.

"There is a crack in the box," Ron said, eyes still trained above him.

Harry looked up and let out a gasp. "That's impossible, I checked every inch of this bloody box, top to bottom before they brought you in here." Ron looked as though he wanted to get up and examine it, but Harry stopped him before he could even try and move.

"Not now. Wait 'til they fall asleep. If we are going to get out of here, we are only going to have one chance." Harry spoke, although he couldn't help his eyes from darting up to the crack every few seconds. He knew it couldn't have been there before they brought Ron in. He had searched for a way out top to bottom. Unless…

"Wandless magic," Ron said, voice quiet and mouth sporting a smirk. "That's sweet, Harry. I didn't know I meant that much to you. When they brought me in all beat up and bloodied, you got so emotional you broke a box."

Harry actually snorted. It made him feel better to know that Ron still had his sense of humor, even with the dried blood caking his face, his incredibly pale pallor, and his frighteningly weak movements.

Wandless magic was definitely a viable explanation. Harry had felt the terror radiating out of him and it was unlike anything he had felt before. He hadn't been scared or angry enough to perform accidental magic in years, and although it was rare in fully trained adult wizards, it was certainly possible.

"It's a start," Harry affirmed, "but with you looking like you are about to conk out any second and the small fact that we don't have wands and those guys do, I'm not sure I like our odds on this one."

"Guess we'll just have to wait for Hermione and Ginny to come to the rescue," Ron replied. "I can't speak for my sister, but something tells me Hermione is working out a detailed rescue mission to put the entire Auror Department to shame. It probably has bullet points and everything," Ron smiled wistfully at the thought of his wife, but the smile was soon replaced with a frown.

"Mind you, it might be better if I'm unconscious when she shows up. I need her to be so worried about me that she forgets she wants to kill me." Ron finished.

"Now why would she want to do that?" Harry asked.

"I may or may not have deviated from our emergency plan." Harry raised his eyebrows so Ron continued. "She was supposed to get the kids to Bill and Fleur's. I knew she would come back to help me, so I blocked her from apparating back in."

Harry let out a low whistle, knowing how fiercely protective his two best friends were about each other.

"You're right, mate. I'll make sure to stun you when she gets here. And we might want to get some more blood on you just for good measure."

* * *

><p>"<em>Aguamenti!<em>" Hermione shot a stream of water at the unconscious man. He sputtered and started to come around, as Hermione slapped the side of his face.

"Wake up," Hermione demanded.

Kingsley had given them 24 hours to find Ron and Harry before he had to deploy not only the Auror Department, but probably part of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement as well.

This move would inevitably result in the press finding out. Hermione knew that even if Kingsley held a press conference to reassure the public and emphasize the truth, The Daily Prophet would still have a field day. People would panic immediately. The wizarding world would assume the worst, no matter what their comforting Minister said.

Hermione could see the headlines now, something to the effect of, 'New Dark Lord takes power by killing Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley.' Hermione worried that this might empower whoever had them to kill them, even if that was not part of the original plan.

For the first time since the Censorship Law was passed, a law Hermione had almost single-handedly written, she resented it. It stopped the Minister of Magic from censoring the papers. It was written, of course, to prevent the recurrence of how both Fudge and Scrimgeour had been able to silence The Daily Prophet during Voldemort's rise to power. Controlling the paper had stifled the public's knowledge and their ability to protect themselves. However, there was no way around it now. Kingsley was bound by it. Without a formal withdrawal of the law from the Wizengamot, there was nothing Kingsley could do.

Well, Hermione was not going to let the 24-hour mark hit. 'My children will have their father back when they wake up tomorrow,' she vowed.

Neville and George were searching the house, looking for anything left behind by the attackers that might give them clues. When they finished, they were going to go to the Potters' and do the same thing. They also were given the job of determining how the attackers had gotten in considering all the charms that surrounded both the Weasley and the Potter homes.

George started by immediately picking up Ron's wand, which had fallen when Ron was taken, and giving it to Hermione. She had pocketed it, but it still weighed heavy on her. She could feel it there, unnaturally heavier than it should have felt on her person. She found herself continually fidgeting with it, and tried to ignore that Ginny was doing the same thing with Harry's wand.

Winslow and Kingsley had agreed to contact and enlist the help of the two other members of Ron and Harry's Auror team. They had arrived quickly and had gotten to work almost instantly. There was a slightly older man called Michael Hudson and Shelby Belby, whose rhyming name had always greatly amused Ron.

Mr. Weasley and Shelby were questioning Ginny about her endeavor, trying to find out more information about the two men that had taken Harry. Michael was investigating the dead body as well as tracing some of the magic that had been recently cast in the house. Hermione knew that this was because magic always leaves traces, sometimes very distinctive traces, that could tell them more about who might have cast them.

Kingsley, Hermione and Bill were left to question their best lead, the living attacker. As he woke up, Kingsley forced Veritaserum down his throat. Hermione was actually quite a skilled interrogator, having trained with the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. The trick with Veritaserum was to ask pointed questions, so that the individual being questioned could not give you a truthful, but useless answer.

"What is your full name?" she said, voice emotionless and calm.

"Mitchell Rowlin." the man answered. He was looking around, clearly trying to come up with an escape route.

"Where were you planning on taking Ronald Weasley?"

"Wherever the portkey took us." Rowlin answered, and Hermione rolled her eyes. It was a bad question, but no matter, she could narrow the focus.

"And where was the portkey going to take you?"

"I don't know." It was the worst answer they could have possibly heard. It meant that this man was nothing more than a hired hand; he must have been given a portkey and told merely to grab Ron and bring him to wherever the portkey took them. Hermione felt the hope drain out of her with that answer.

"Were you personally involved in capturing Harry Potter?" Kingsley asked, taking over as Hermione found herself unable to continue.

"No."

She listened to more useless answers and found her left hand grasping Ron's wand in her pocket. She glanced over to Ginny, who was in the other room, and noticed that she was still fidgeting with Harry's wand.

It must have meant something that she found herself constantly holding and adjusting the wand. Hermione let herself dwell on this for a moment.

Some signs, especially when it comes to magic, can't be ignored.

**Thanks for reading chapter 8. Please leave a review. I'm open to constructive criticism. It makes me a better writer (plus it often inspires me!)**


	9. Point Me

**A/N: Hi everyone! I really appreciate all the feed back I've been getting on this story, so please, keep it coming. **

**Special thanks again to ObsessedRHShipper (everyone reading this should be thanking her!) for being a wonderful beta and helping me out so much. :)**

**Chapter 9: Point Me**

Once Ron and Hermione's home had been thoroughly searched and the magic traced and catalogued, Kingsley quickly repaired the home to its original state. If you had just walked into their home now, you would never guess that just two hours prior there had been a full-scale battle. Seated around Hermione's living room were Bill, Ginny, Arthur, and Kingsley.

Winslow had taken the two other Aurors, Michael and Shelby, back to the office to work out the information they had on the dead man and further interrogate Rowlin, the captive they had in custody. Kingsley had given orders for the investigation to be done with complete discretion and fortunately, the team set up in the Auror division lent itself well to this. Anyone on the outside would merely think Ron and Harry were away on a mission.

George and Neville were investigating the Potters, having concluded their work at Hermione and Ron's home. Ginny had stated their search would be useless as the men hadn't been there long and no spells had been cast. They went anyway, although Hermione suspected this was merely out of the desire to feel productive more than anything else.

Sitting around was the absolute worst. The three Aurors had told them they would be back with any information on possible leads. They were going to be using a variety of memory and interrogation techniques on Rowlin, in hopes of getting information on who sent him, even if it was information he knew that Rowlin himself didn't realize was relevant.

Hermione and Ginny had been sending each other glares for the better part of the last hour. The hateful words spoken by Ginny were still fresh in Hermione's mind, but, for the most part, she had put her anger and frustration on the backburner while she switched focus to her number one priority, Ron.

Winslow and his team would try, and she didn't doubt they were working their hardest, but when it came to Ron, she couldn't trust his life in anyone's hands but hers.

"Ginny," Hermione started, and Ginny looked nervous at being addressed directly after their row, "do you feel something? With Harry's wand?"

Ginny's eyes widened as she nodded. She too had been feeling Harry's wand feeling unnaturally heavy to her. She was familiar with Harry's wand; she had held it before, whether it was to move it when it was in the way of something or even to use it a couple times if her wand was out of reach. It had never felt this weighty. She had never felt this drawn to it before.

"It's almost like it's calling to me." Ginny whispered, realizing how crazy that sounded. Now it was Bill's turn to look around, wide-eyed.

Something clicked in her mind.

"I have to get to a library." Hermione blurted out, startling the pathetic vigil that had lapsed into silence for about the last twenty minutes or so.

"Sorry?" Bill started, but before he had a chance to figure out anything further, Hermione grabbed the floo powder off the mantle place, shouted "Ministry of Magic" and disappeared into the flames.

Ginny, Kingsley and Arthur looked at each other for an explanation, but Bill was on his feet in a flash and disappeared into the flames behind her.

Hermione arrived in the Ministry entryway and took off instantly, darting through the crowd. Bill arrived a moment behind her.

"Hermione!" Bill called as he weaved in and out of the Ministry crowds, keeping his eyes trained on the bushy-haired woman in front of him. "HERMIONE!"

She didn't respond. She was smaller than he was, so she had an easier time navigating the throngs of Ministry employees. A couple of people glanced at the short brunette woman and the tall red head darting through the crowds, but for the most part, they were ignored.

At some point, Bill lost her, but it didn't matter. He knew where she was heading. The Ministry of Magic had its own magical library, and it didn't take a Dumbledore to figure out that was where Hermione was heading.

He continued on that route, and once he was in a less-crowded wing, his long legs enabled him to catch up to her.

"Well, Hermione, I know you are the brightest witch of your age and all, but I'm no numpty. Tell me what we are looking for," Bill whispered to her as they entered into the library. "I can help you. Ron is my brother and Harry might as well be too."

Hermione nodded and beckoned him to follow her towards a back corner in the stacks of the library. "Take this," she said, thrusting Ron's wand into Bill's hand. Bill held onto the wand for a moment and looked at Hermione quizzically.

"Put it in your pocket." Hermione directed. Bill stuck the wand into the back pocket of the muggle jeans he was wearing. "Do you feel anything?"

"Nothing. Am I supposed too?"

"There is something going on with the wands," Hermione said pulling down a thick book "I'm not sure what it is, but I can feel something, and Ginny can too."

Bill, rather than question further, pulled down another book from the shelf. "Tell me what to look for."

"I don't know yet."

* * *

><p>Harry did not want to tempt their two kidnappers into action. He was quite content to have them more or less ignoring Ron and him. Harry was truly worried they would act in desperation and make a snap decision to kill them. His plan of action was to keep as quiet as possible until the two wizards went to sleep, left the main room, or just did anything to give Ron and Harry some time in which to examine the long clear crack in the side of the box.<p>

Hopefully, once they had a chance to examine it, they could figure out how to break the back wall and escape from their impromptu prison.

Harry was patient.

Ron, on the other hand, was exceptionally impatient. He was annoyed as well as exhausted from his fight. He had a headache that made him feel as though his skull was going to crack into two, and he was starving. This combination leads to a very short-tempered Ronald Weasley.

"Couldn't they at least have let me eat breakfast before they forced me to fight for my life?" Ron mumbled as his stomach let out a growl. Harry could hear both the annoyance and the pain in his voice. Although his heart went out to Ron, he decided the best technique for dealing with Ron when he was this irritable was just to keep joking with him.

"Well, if you were planning on being on time for our presentation, you would have eaten breakfast by the time they had attacked you. Let this be a lesson in punctuality." Harry noted, and Ron smirked in response.

They were silent for a few moments while Harry briefly let his mind wander to Ginny and what she was doing for their rescue mission. When Harry looked back over to Ron, he noticed he was drifting off again. Ron's eyes were losing focus and his lids were starting to close.

"Oi! Ron, you really need to stay awake!" Harry said, shaking him slightly.

Ron muttered what sounded like a swear word under his breath but opened his eyes once more.

"Fine, Fine," he grumbled. "Think they would consider feeding us?" Ron asked, looking around at the two men, who still seemed to be working on some kind of plan.

"I don't know, mate," Harry started, his eyes followed Ron's towards the men. "I doubt it; I think we should just let them tire themselves out."

"Can't you just ask?" Ron said, whining a bit. "You're the bloody target of this whole thing. I'm just a bonus. They won't kill you off for wanting some food. I don't like my chances."

"For the love of Merlin, Ron, you are just as much of a target as I am." Harry sighed, exasperated once again by his best friend's inability to realize his importance not only to Harry but also to the entire wizarding world.

"No really!" Ron said, suddenly sitting up much straighter now. "I didn't mean that in an 'I'm not important' whiny way. When they were attacking me, one of them used the killing curse. They said something about how Hermione and I were just a bonus to the plan because they 'already had Potter.'"

Ron was about to start saying how glad he was Hermione had left, when he noticed all the color had left Harry's face.

"You're serious?"

Ron was confused at Harry's sudden change in demeanor. He had been mostly calm and collected since Ron had woken up, but suddenly he looked more afraid than Ron could remember him looking in years.

"Um…. yeah… what's wrong, Harry?"

Harry's breathing had picked up a bit.

"They are going to kill you. We have to get out of here."

* * *

><p>Hermione and Bill had been going through the library books for no more than a few minutes when she decided to provide him with some guidance as to what she had in mind.<p>

"Are you familiar with the 'point me' charm?" Hermione asked Bill as she replaced one thick spell book for another.

"Points north, doesn't it?" Bill said, looking up from his equally large charms book.

"Yeah, I taught it to Harry fourth year to help him with the third task of the Triwizard Tournament, the one where the champions had to get through the maze to the cup." Bill let the familiar chill wash over him as Hermione brought up the third task. He hadn't even been dating Fleur yet at the time, but whenever someone mentioned the third task, he would feel a pit in his stomach as he remembered the administrators rushing in after a shower of red sparks and bringing her unconscious body out of the maze.

Shaking his head and the memories of the task from his mind, he returned his focus onto his little brother. "But we don't know if they are north?" Bill said, confused, and sounding so much like Ron it made Hermione's heart ache momentarily.

"I know, but I remember coming across something within the same chapter of directional spells that might be able to help. It was something between a point me charm and the charm that they place on remembralls. You know, so when you've forgotten something, it points you to where you left it."

"That would come in handy. I always said the problem with remembralls is that you have to remember what it is you've forgotten." Bill said, with a smile, but his smile was quickly replaced by a thoughtful look as he tried to think about what this could mean for the wands.

"What do you reckon?" Bill finally asked.

"I think I might be able to use his wand to point me to Ron. There is a powerful connection between master and wand. It wants me to find him."

"Why can't I feel anything then? Why is it just you?"

Hermione bit her lip. "Wandlore is a very complicated and complex branch of magic. The wand chooses the wizard." She blushed a bit. "When you marry someone in the wizarding world, you become bonded for life. I suspect the wand responds to me because Ron is a part of me."

Bill sighed, knowing what this meant, "I'm going with you."

"Let's find the spell first."

* * *

><p>"What do you mean they are going to kill me?" Ron whispered. Harry noted he looked much more alert now than he did just moments before.<p>

"Don't you see? They want me alive. They don't need you at all. We've already messed with their plan." Harry ran his fingers through his hair, trying to convey his fears without going into a full-blown panic. "Two on two is bad odds for them. If they don't need you for something, and they were willing to cast the killing curse before, it's only a matter of time before they cast it again. I'm not letting you get killed by these two bloody morons."

Ron frowned and hesitated at Harry's determined tone. "Harry, let your hero complex go. I'm not going to chance you getting hurt just cause you've got some theory that they 'might' decide to kill me."

Harry chose his words carefully before responding, "If they kill you, it's only a matter of time before they kill me too. I doubt their original plan was to ransom me off; they haven't made any demands yet. Besides, the threats against me were never for money. They didn't involve random assassination attempts either."

Ron frowned, realizing exactly what Harry was talking about. Ron had read every threat the Aurors received against Harry. Threats against Harry almost always involved a public death at the proper moment.

They would kill Ron to get him out of the way, so he wouldn't be a problem. Then they would force the wizarding world to watch as they killed Harry Potter.

Ron nodded. Harry was right. It's all strategy, and it was only a matter of time before they figured out that two against one would be better odds for them.

"What's the plan?" Ron asked.

"Isn't that your job, oh master strategist," Harry replied. He used joking words, but Ron could hear the panic in his voice.

"Pont taken. Relax, Harry. We'll get out of this. Let me think." Ron placed his head back against the wall. It was a game, and Harry and Ron without wands were pawns against knights. But even a pawn can take a knight if the positioning is right.

"I've got an idea. But it is risky." Ron whispered.

"Risky is better than nothing."

"Okay, well here goes…." Ron said, bringing his voice down even more so Harry had to lean in to hear.

**Hope you enjoyed. Please let me know what you think. I appreciate every review and feel free to send me a PM with criticisms or any advice you might have. Thanks!**


	10. Prison Break

**I am so thrilled to have hit 50 reviews. I seriously can't thank you guys enough. I appreciate all the kind words and encouragement and I am so glad people are enjoying this story. **

**Yocks: since I can't reply to you in a private message, I'll thank you here! You are so sweet. I appreciate it.**

**Once again, ObsessedRHShipper has been making this story a better read for everyone and a better writing experience for me. Thanks for being my beta!**

**Chapter 10: Prison Break**

"That's completely mental," Harry responded once Ron finished describing his plan. "You do realize that there is so much that relies on chance. Not to mention there is a good chance one of us could really get hurt."

"Well, one alternative is that we sit here and hope that one of us gets some ingenious idea." Ron retorted. "Or just go with your 'wait until they go to sleep' plan; neither of us will get hurt then. It's up to you. I trust your choice, mate."

Harry sighed. It couldn't be past noon. Waiting until they went to sleep could be hours and that could be too late for both himself and Ron. Harry knew from the moment Ron finished his idea that it was their best option so they would be able to catch their kidnappers by surprise. It was just so risky, and would require a lot from both of them. The whole plan made Harry feel a bit nauseous.

"When do you reckon we go for it?" Harry asked. He wouldn't admit it to Ron, but his heart was pounding so loudly he was surprised Ron couldn't hear it. If things went wrong, they could both be dead not five minutes from now.

"No point in delaying it. It will just give me a chance to dwell on all the things that could go wrong." Ron replied. He sighed and looked over at Harry. "You're my best friend."

Harry nodded, although being exceptionally close, neither Ron nor Harry had ever been verbose with their feelings.

Ron suddenly started speaking very fast. "If something goes wrong, don't blame yourself because we both agreed to this. Just tell Hermione that…"

Harry interrupted. "Don't be a prat. You're going to be fine. I'm going to be fine. And you don't need to tell me whatever else you were about to spit out. It would be taken care of." They had been in many dangerous situations before, but he had never heard Ron try to say good-bye before.

Ron nodded.

"Same goes to you though," Harry replied. The words didn't need to be spoken. Harry knew Ron would take care of his family if something were to happen to him and vice versa.

"You're on, mate," Ron whispered.

* * *

><p>Hermione had been going through the charm spell books for the better part of an hour. Her eyes were scanning through the pages so fast that Bill was amazed she was absorbing the information in front of her.<p>

Bill had always known his little brother had married a brilliant witch, but he had never actually sat down to do any work with her, so he didn't realize quite how brilliant. Bill was considered quite brilliant himself and had been head boy for a reason. Still, he was amazed at how Hermione had gone through three books before he made it through his first one.

Just when Bill felt his eyes glazing over, Hermione let out a yelp.

"I think I've found it, Bill!" she said in as loud a voice as she dared to use in a library. Bill perked up instantly and glanced over the page she had come to a halt on.

"Listen to this," Hermione explained. "The Finders spell: to be used when the seeker is missing something close to their heart. During the turn of the century, this spell was deemed a failure and was removed from spell books because those searching for a lost item, such as misplaced books or items of clothing were not led to their missing item. However, the spell was revitalized and reconsidered after Irish witch, Bernadette O'Mara, used it in 1458. Madame O'Mara cast the spell with the wand of her missing 16-year old daughter. The wand acted as a compass and ultimately led Madame O'Mara to the missing youth's location."

Bill smiled. "Will it let you apparate to him? Is it like how Ron was able to get back to you during the Horcrux hunt?" Hermione smiled slightly at the memory.

Bill seemed to realize what he had just said. "The deluminator. Can you use it to find Ron?"

Hermione shook her head sadly. "Ron and I spent hours researching the deluminator after the war. We tried everything to see if it could be used again. Ron reckoned it would be useful to figure it out so if he, Harry or myself were ever separated, we could use it to find each other. But we've never been able to use it in the same way again. Whatever magic Dumbledore enchanted the deluminator with was lost with Dumbledore himself."

Bill sighed, momentarily disheartened before he went back to their original plan. "Well, will this spell let you apparate to him?"

"No, I don't think so. This states it acts as a compass. I think it literally points in the direction of the person." Hermione replied.

If possible, Bill felt even more disheartened by this news. Ron might not even be in Britain right now. Just having the wand point them in the right direction could be very little help, since they could be miles way.

Just as he was about to point out this fact, he glanced up at Hermione's face. She obviously knew this fact, but she clearly didn't care.

"It's time for me to take out my old beaded bag."

* * *

><p>"You are a right foul git, you know that?" Harry said, voice louder than he had been speaking for the last hour or so.<p>

"Oh yeah? Tell me how you really feel, Harry?" Ron said, a bit louder still, with unrecognizable venom in his voice.

"It's your stupid pride. I told you the early detection charms weren't working well last week. But no, you didn't want to listen to me. You were just too damn proud to take a look at them,"

Harry said, getting to his feet and glaring down at the redheaded man seated on the floor.

"You could have taken a look at them yourself, you know!" Ron replied, glaring up at Harry. "I don't need to do everything for you. You're supposed to be pretty capable."

"You know security was your job. You just didn't take me seriously! You didn't want to be shown up by Harry Potter?" Harry yelled. He recognized that this argument made absolutely no sense, but it didn't really matter.

"Well, if you and your bloody wife had been more prepared, maybe you could have taken care of things instead of just surrendering…instead of relying on me to actually put up a fight." Ron retorted loudly, getting to his feet and squaring off against Harry.

"Don't you go blaming this on my wife, Weasley," Harry shouted back. "I know you've been quick to blame her for everything lately, but it just shows how pathetic you are. Felt replaced, didn't you? Upset there was another, more _important_ man in your sister's life?" Both Ron and Harry's voices were getting louder.

"Me? Pathetic?" Ron said, positively shouting now. "I put up a hell of a fight. If you weren't such an easy target, none of this would have happened. You can't survive without your friends looking after your sorry arse."

Their raised voices caught the attention of the two men outside the box. They both got to their feet, looking a bit confused.

"What's going on?" the silver-haired man yelled as the other simultaneously shouted at them to shut up.

Harry and Ron ignored them and continued glaring at each other and shouting. Each insult they yelled was more personal and angrier than the one before.

"Too bad your coward of a wife left you to fight by yourself. Maybe she was just hoping you would get yourself killed so she could get herself a real man." As soon as the words left Harry's mouth, Ron charged at him, throwing a punch.

Harry ducked it easy. Ron, now off-balance, was caught by surprise when Harry grabbed him and threw him into the backside of the box.

As he did so, Harry glanced up at the crack in the box. The impact of Ron's body expanded the crack even more. Ron, now turned around, looking positively ready to murder Harry. Harry, whose back was now to the two kidnappers, winked at Ron.

Things were going according to plan.

Ron ran towards Harry, and Harry feigned surprise as Ron grabbed him by the neck of his shirt, spun him around and threw him back against the wall. Harry's back slammed pretty hard into the cracked wall. Ignoring the sharp pain in his back, he focused on Ron's face for affirmation. He saw Ron's eyes trail up to the crack and a brief smile play across his lips.

Still going according to plan.

"Get off me," Harry yelled breaking free and reversing positions, once again bringing Ron's body against the back of the wall.

Ron genuinely gasped in surprise as the back of his head ricocheted off the wall. Harry immediately lightened his hold, but Ron faintly shook his head, just enough for Harry to notice it. Harry let his eyes glance up one last time and saw that they had almost gotten there. The wall looked positively ready to shatter.

"STOP IT RIGHT NOW!" the silver-haired man yelled as both men ran around so they were behind the box, closer to Ron and Harry and the back wall. Distracted by the yelling, both men didn't seem to notice the cracking box.

Once the two kidnappers were close, Harry grabbed Ron one last time, and threw him full force into the wall.

It shattered as Ron's body went straight through it. The entire back wall of the box showered down on both Ron and the two kidnappers.

Harry forced himself not to run immediately to his friend's side. All they had was a few seconds

before either of the kidnappers could figure out what was going on. Harry forced himself to ignore Ron, and instead ran over to the dark-haired man and immediately punched him square in the jaw with all the strength he could muster.

Their hand-to-hand muggle combat lessons in Auror training had paid off. The man fell to the ground, out cold. His wand fell from his hand, landing about a foot away from his body. Harry had gathered too much momentum running towards the man, and after he threw the punch his body continued forward. He was too far away from the wand to grab it.

Ron, who saw where Harry was heading, was closer and made a dive for the fallen wand. Before Ron was able to wrap his hands around it, the silver-haired man cast a blasting curse aimed directly at the wand.

When the curse hit the fallen wand, Harry's world exploded.

Harry felt himself flying through the air for a moment before his back hit square against one of the walls in the warehouse. He was completely dazed.

'Focus, Harry, focus.' He told himself as consciousness threatened to leave him. His whole body ached. He couldn't bring himself to move, but his eyes scanned the room, which was covered in debris and smoke from the explosion.

There was a loud crack as the silver-haired man opted to apparate away rather than stay and size up the damage. Perhaps he had decided the two friends were dead, or else he didn't like the two to one odds. As the smoke began to settle, Harry could see the man he had punched lying motionless on the ground.

His eyes continued scanning until he found Ron.

When he finally found the tall redhead, he let out a gasp. With renewed vigor and ignoring the pain shooting through his leg and back, Harry managed to stand up and get himself to Ron's side.

Ron wasn't moving.


	11. Search and Rescue

**I know I think my beta, ObsessedRHShipper every update, but this update she deserves a special kudos as she gave me a pointer that I'm confident has the story making way more sense. :) thank you thank you.**

**To those I can't privately reply too: jessie and avid reader, i appreciate your reviews and I'm so glad you are enjoying it. **

**Chapter 11: Search and Rescue**

Bill grabbed Hermione's arm before she had a chance to take off running again. "I'm coming with you." They had no idea how many people had been involved in the capture, and accordingly no idea how many wizards were guarding Ron and Harry. What Bill did know is that he couldn't let Hermione go alone. Ron would kill him.

Besides, Bill had a soft spot for Ron and Hermione. When Ron had first arrived at Shell Cottage during the trio's Horcrux hunt, alone and near tears, Bill was initially incredibly disappointed that his brother had left Harry and Hermione.

On the first night that Ron stayed with him, Bill was unable to sleep. He found himself standing in the doorway to the guestroom watching his brother sleep. Ron was not having a restful sleep, but was tossing and turning and occasionally crying out. Bill stood there watching him, trying to picture what his baby brother had gone through. He had endured a terrible injury to his arm, weeks without a real meal, the stress of being a primary target of Lord Voldemort, the stress of the hunt in general including not knowing if his family was alive or dead, and, of course, the fear that the woman, whom he loved, loved his best friend more.

Bill knew that he wouldn't have lasted a week in Ron's place and, from that moment on, there was a subtle switch in the roles of their relationship. Ron always admired and looked up to Bill, but now Bill looked up to and admired Ron.

When Ron showed up a few weeks later clutching an injured Hermione, Bill had been floored by the amount of love exuding from Ron. As he watched his brother break down by Hermione's bedside, he realized his youngest brother had grown up tremendously and loved the woman in front of him more than anyone else in the world.

When Bill learned that Hermione loved Ron with the same intensity, Bill felt what could only be described as elation. The two had been through so much and they deserved each other. And although he wouldn't admit it out loud, Ron and Hermione were his favorite of all his siblings and their spouses.

Hermione glared at him, seemingly sizing him up to see if she could talk him out of it or not.

"We are going to leave in an hour. I'll take some food and some medical supplies in my bag, just in case either of them is injured. I'll grab some muggle money in case we need anything. Wear comfortable shoes; I don't know how much walking we will have to do." Hermione instructed.

"Are you going to take the tent?" Bill replied.

"No, we don't have that much time before Kingsley announces they are missing. Just supplies. We have to find them tonight," Hermione explained. "Go home, and change into something more comfortable. Meet me at my place; I'm leaving in an hour with or without you. I have a good idea of how to start."

* * *

><p>Harry's ankle had swollen so badly, that he couldn't put any pressure on it at all without wanting to scream. One glance down towards it told Harry he had probably fractured it during the explosion.<p>

Ron was lying on his back about fifteen feet away from him. After a few steps in Ron's direction, Harry fell to the ground. His ankle simply could not stand it. So instead, he found himself crawling across the room to Ron's side. When he got there, he was greeted with a sight that made him feel as though his heart was going to burst out of his chest.

Ron's eyes were open.

He was staring at the ceiling and blinked when Harry's head came into view.

"You bloody asshole, are you alright?" Harry asked.

"Alright there, Harry?" Ron said quietly, as Harry's face came into focus. His voice was weak and quiet, as if he was sitting by a family member's deathbed. His eyes were open, but he looked dazed, similar to how he had looked when he first returned to consciousness earlier.

"Think I bungled up my ankle. Other than that, no harm, no foul. What about you?" Harry said, trying to keep his voice light, and not emphasize how concerned he was that Ron still hadn't moved.

Ron was lying in a supine position and was staring up at the ceiling. He hadn't moved an inch since Harry had made it to his side. Harry took Ron's right hand in his and squeezed it. A faint squeeze back was what he received, but it was enough to fill Harry with relief. At the very least, his friend didn't seem to be paralyzed.

After a few minutes, Ron whispered. "Can you just talk to me for a bit?"

The explosion had clearly shaken Ron to the core. He must have been only a foot or so away from the wand when it was hit with the blasting curse. Harry nodded, recognizing that his friend needed some assurance that they were both actually alive.

"We're okay, Ron. Your plan worked, at least for the most part. I think that other bloke is dead." Harry said, lowering his voice into what he hoped was a soothing tone. "Our wives are seriously going to kill us if we come back to them in this condition. I would have liked to get my hand on a wand just to fix up my ankle and heal up some of these bruises. Gin's going to be in a right state."

Ron smiled slightly, but still didn't move, so Harry just kept on talking.

"Did I tell you that James actually put himself between the bloke who busted into the house and Albus? Not in a literal way, but he made himself the focus instead of Albus. I've never been so proud of him. It reminded me a lot of you, you know. It was like that time during our third year when you put yourself between Sirius and me. Looks like you taught your godson pretty well," Harry continued, recognizing that he was rambling, but his heart seemed to swell with pride both at his son and at his best friend.

For all the hardship and pain Harry had been through, he had a best friend who was willing to die for him at age 13 and somehow Ron had managed to teach that love and protectiveness to his godson.

"Well, we have to think about what we are going to do next. The silver-haired man disapparated, but I think he could be back at any minute and possibly with reinforcements." Harry said, glancing around. He was actually much more concerned about this than he wanted Ron to know.

Ron nodded his head and finally made a move to sit up. As he did so, his face contorted in pain.

"What is it?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Nothing," Ron replied quickly. Harry opened his mouth to retort, but bit his tongue. Ron was not one to open up if he wasn't ready.

Harry acknowledged that their situation was not looking good for them. The part of the plan that hadn't worked was getting their hands on at least one of the wands. Now, they were fortunately alone, but also weaponless and injured.

Ron clearly aggravated his prior existing head injury. It was bleeding again, dripping down the side of his face, which was frighteningly pale. He looked exhausted and awful, and it was painful to watch him try to get into a sitting position.

After a few attempts, Ron was forced to admit he was hurting. "Something's wrong with my left shoulder and arm. I can't move it at all." He said quietly. Harry slid his arm under Ron from the right side and helped him into a sitting position.

"Let me take a look." Harry asked and Ron made a face at him.

"Going to fix it with your wandless muggle medical skills?" Ron asked with a smirk.

Harry just frowned at him and began to slide Ron's shirt up.

"If Rita Skeeter could see us now, this would be the photograph on the cover of Witch Weekly's next issue and haunt us over the next decade or so. Savior undress…" Ron's commentary was interrupted as he let out a yelp in pain that he could not suppress.

As Harry took a look at Ron's shoulder, he could see why. It had clearly been knocked right out of the socket during the explosion. Although Harry felt terrible when Ron cried out in agony, he was actually relieved.

"I can fix this actually." Harry told him. Ron looked at him skeptically.

"Fixed like the way Lockhart fixed your arm second year?"

"No. I mean it wouldn't be fixed for good, but I can guide your shoulder back into its socket. It's still going to be sore and it will hurt like hell when I do it, but at least you'll be able to move it a bit." Harry said. "It will tide you over until we can get you to a healer."

Ron sighed, "Alright then, give it a go."

"Hang on, mate. This is going to hurt a bit."

* * *

><p>"I'm coming too." Ginny said, her voice was low, almost a whisper. Kingsley had gone back to the Ministry, while Arthur had gone to collect the Potter children as well as Rose and Hugo and bring them to the Burrow in hopes that they would distract a frantic Molly. Neville and George were still at the Potters.<p>

Hermione was not thrilled about this. She honestly wanted to go this alone. She barely wanted Bill to come, let alone Ginny, but she knew that she didn't stand a chance in convincing Bill not to. Hermione glared at Ginny.

"Ginny, I don't think that…"

Ginny interrupted. "Look, Hermione, I'm sorry, alright? I shouldn't have yelled at you; I shouldn't have taken it out on you." She paused, forcing Hermione to make eye contact with her. "I was just so scared. I came here as soon as Harry was taken because I knew Ron would be able to fix it. That's what older brothers do; that's what Ron's always done for me. When I realized he had been taken too, I just panicked."

Hermione bit her lip. Ginny could slow her down and become an added risk. But would she really be a liability? Hermione thought about it for a moment. Ginny was definitely a smart witch, and, more importantly, she had Harry's wand. The Finders spell would work for her too. She didn't necessarily even need to go with Hermione if she didn't want to.

'We are stronger working together, than apart.' Hermione thought to herself. It had always been that way. Ginny's fierce determination to save her husband was similar to Hermione's own determination and it would be beneficial for them to combine their efforts, than go separately.

"Alright." Hermione consented. Then, she vocalized a concern that had been bothering her since Ginny expressed a desire to come. "We have to consider the fact that they might not be together."

"They are." Ginny replied, with certainty in her voice that surprised Hermione.

"How do you know?"

"You said it looked like Ron was hurt. They'd have to kill Harry to get him to leave a hurt Ron." Ginny replied, trying not to focus on the gravity of what she was saying.

"Alright then. We'll leave as soon as Bill gets back." Hermione replied. She felt softer now toward Ginny; after all, Ginny's temper was similar to Ron's. It was part of what she loved about him.

"Where are we going to start?" Ginny asked.

Hermione smiled. She reached into her beaded bag and pulled out a folded piece of parchment paper that had been in there since the Horcrux hunt. After the war, Hermione found she was unable to throw it away, and now she was glad she didn't.

She muttered a charm and the parchment paper opened on its own accord. Hermione tapped the paper with her wand and said, "The places we've been." As soon as these words were uttered, the blank parchment paper turned into a detailed map of all of Great Britain as well as Ireland. The map was littered with gold X's, with Hermione's handwriting written above or below the X's.

"What is it?" Ginny asked confused.

"These are all the places Ron, Harry and I stayed while we were hunting Horcruxes." Hermione explained. "I know it seems a bit stupid, to keep where we were written down, but I did so because we traveled so much and we needed to make sure we knew where we were and where safe places were for us to travel." She watched as comprehension dawned on Ginny's face.

"Having the map enabled me to mark off areas where known snatchers were, which were known death eater havens, and where suspected 'Harry sightings' were reported. I charmed it like the Marauder's map so it was harder to reveal." Hermione finished explaining, while indicating some areas on the map, which were marked with red lines and other similar warning symbols.

Ginny nodded, understanding the importance of the map on the hunt, but not quite on how it would help them find Harry and Ron. "How is this going to help us?"

"We are going to apparate to these four locations on the map," Hermione explained. She pointed first to an area in the north Scotland, then to an area in west Ireland, third to the southern point along the English Channel, and then finally to a eastern point in England. "At each point, we'll cast the Finders spell."

Ginny's eyes traced the four points that Hermione indicated. If they cast the spell at each point, they would be able at least to figure out if Ron and Harry were in the country.

"And if they all point inland…" Ginny started, seeing Hermione's plan.

"It should allow us to triangulate where they are. We should be able to extend the direction of the wands in a straight line and come up with a point where they meet up," Hermione said, drawing a line from each point as a hypothetical example. "Once we have at least a general idea, we will search on foot."

Ginny nodded, as she watched Hermione trace each imaginary line with her finger. It was brilliant. It was so characteristically Hermione. And, since they were all places Hermione had been before, it should be relatively easy for Bill and her to travel using side-along apparition with Hermione.

"What if they are in another country?"

"I thought of that, but they definitely took both of them by portkey. It's difficult enough to set up an unauthorized portkey, making an unauthorized _international_ portkey would be extraordinarily complex. I'm thinking they are likely in England, but I think we should extend to the rest of Great Britain just to be sure." Hermione explained.

"It's going to be a bit nauseating, apparating that much," Ginny said, thoughtfully.

"Incredibly. So feel free to wait here," Hermione added, with more annoyance than she intended to have evident in her voice.

Ginny paled. "That's not what I….It's the best plan we've got, so full steam ahead," she said with enthusiasm.

Just then, Bill walked in the door, and looked at the two girls.

"Ready?"

Before Hermione could reply, another redhead walked through the door.

"Leaving without me?"

**Thanks for stopping by, leave a review! My readers are the BEST, and I like to know who they are. In all seriousness, constructive criticism is welcome too.**


	12. Find Him

A/N: sorry to all for the delay this week. I had a crazy week including a REALLY important job interview that I was prepping for (please all wish me luck!) But thanks to everyone who has reviewed and read this story. Your support means the world!

Special thanks of course to obsessedRHshipper for being a fantastic beta, and to rhmac12 (teampeeta!)

Chapter 12: Find Him

Harry guided Ron's shoulder back into the socket as gently as he possibly could. Sadly, it didn't much matter how gentle Harry tried to be because as soon as the "pop" signifying the connection of Ron's shoulder happened, a feeling of fire radiated down Ron's left arm and he let out a yell in pain.

"Sorry, mate," Harry said truthfully, feeling terrible at the pain he caused his friend. Ron let out a sigh and leaned back against Harry, who was still seated behind him.

"Least I can move it a bit now." Ron observed, and Harry watched him test out his arm's capabilities.

"I wouldn't go trying too much with it; it's going to be sore and hurt. Until you can get a healer to look at it, it won't be much good to you." Harry said, before turning his gaze away from Ron's shoulder and towards his own ankle.

Harry shifted himself and away from Ron's body as he looked down at his ankle. He wouldn't be able to pop it back into place.

"We're in a right state, aren't we?" Harry observed. It was true. Harry had no use of his ankle and although it seemed like Ron's legs were in working order, he had a nasty wound to the head and probably a concussion to boot. Plus, Harry really didn't like the amount of blood that had poured out of Ron over the last few hours.

"Mmm…" Ron mumbled, agreeing. Other than sitting up so that Harry could fix his arm, Ron had moved very little since the explosion. In fact, once Harry had fixed Ron's arm, Ron had slumped back against Harry. When Harry moved to get a look at his ankle, he realized he was completely supporting his friend.

"Hey, you alright?" Harry said, trying to reposition himself so that Ron would be more comfortable.

"Mmmm," Ron replied again, and Harry felt the crippling fear he had felt earlier return. Ron clearly had a concussion, if not something more sinister. He had lost a ton of blood from his first head trauma and the explosion had clearly aggravated it.

"RON!" Harry yelled and Ron turned to focus on Harry. Harry didn't like the way Ron's eyes looked. They seemed disoriented and cloudy, not like the sharp crystal blue eyes, which they usually were.

If the silver-haired man came back now, even without reinforcements, the two friends were goners.

"Ron, I can't walk. Do you think you can help me get over to the door?" Harry said, indicating one of the two doors that could possibly lead to the outside. Harry wanted to get to the door for two reasons. For one, he wanted to see if he recognized where they were or if there was a place nearby where they could get help. Second, he also wanted to see Ron's eyes clear up and focus on the task at hand.

"Yeah…" Ron said, with a sigh. He sat up slowly and was working up the energy to get himself standing when he noticed the makeshift kitchen, which was in the same room as themthey were.

"Great! Maybe there is something to eat; I'm bloody starving." Ron said, perking up. Harry let out a laugh.

"Leave it to you. No big deal on kidnapping and major head injury as long as you're well-fed." Harry joked, glad that the prospect of food seemed to begin to rejuvenate Ron. The moment of joking passed quickly though, as Harry found himself getting anxious. "We can't waste much time though, we really have to get out of here. That man could be back any second." Harry continued.

"Well," Ron said, seriously. "I do think I'll feel better if I get something to eat. I just feel really weak, ya know? It's pathetic. I'm not going to make an omelet or anything. We need to grab food if we are going out there, anyway. " As Ron said this, he slowly got to his feet.

"Pathetic? I'm surprised you are even on your feet, but come on then. Help me up. Let's check out the kitchen and get the hell out of here." Harry said, from his place on the ground.

Ron slung his good arm under Harry's and helped him to his feet. Together, the two made their way toward the makeshift kitchen, like two contestants in a three-legged race. The "kitchen" was really just a few cabinets and a sink as well as a folding table with a few chairs. Harry was able to sit in a plastic chair while Ron rummaged around looking for some food.

Harry quickly surveyed the room once more. To his left was a door, which he suspected led to the outside world. To his right, a door was ajar. Beyond it was what looked to Harry like a bunkroom.

"Peanut butter and bread - I can live with this." Ron said, distracting Harry out of his observations. Ron opened up the other cabinets, but found nothing else. "Guess they weren't planning on keeping us long. This must just have been for a snack."

As Ron began to open the peanut butter, Harry blurted out, "Alright, grab it and let's just go. Seriously, I have a bad feeling about still being here."

Ron sighed. "Fair point." He seemed to struggle again to get to his feet, but as soon as he did, he moved to Harry's side to help him back up. Then, as an afterthought, he grabbed the peanut butter and bread with his other hand, and the two made their way over to the door.

Harry was relieved to find it was unlocked, but became less so when he saw what was outside.

Ron cocked his heads towards Harry.

"Why is it always us?"

* * *

><p>Hermione glared at the three redheads in front of her. After a full minute of silence, she began talking.<p>

"I won't stop you from coming with me," she said with a stare reminiscent of Professor McGonagall, "but I won't be slowing down or stopping or anything else that would cause delay. If you want to come with me, you will keep up and you will not do anything stupid or I swear to Merlin I will hex your bloody arses off."

"Hermione," George spoke first, somewhat surprised by the tone of Hermione's voice, "You are forgetting Ron is our brother. We love him as well. We aren't going to jeopardize bringing him home safely."

Ginny nodded. "And Harry is my husband," she added.

"And Harry might as well be a Weasley. Actually," Bill said with a little laugh, "Harry's been a Weasley longer than Ginny's been a Potter."

"We want them back safe too. You don't have to do this alone," Ginny spoke.

"This isn't just about looking out for you. It's bigger than that." Bill added.

Hermione gave a half-nod. They were right, of course. She had been acting almost selfishly. It would be safer with four of them. Plus, in the event that Harry and Ron's wands did point in different directions, they could split up.

"Right," Hermione said, pulling out her map. She quickly explained to George and Bill what she had already explained to Ginny. They were going to apparate to certain points, cast the charm, and triangulate where the boys were.

"Sounds like a solid plan." George said, when Hermione finished. "Where to first?"

Hermione looked at the map. "Might as well start close," she said, and pointed at the easternmost spot. It was a bit further east than Cambridge.

"Alright then," Bill said and Hermione quickly stuffed the map back in her beaded bag before hooking it to her belt loop.

"Ready?" George asked. Bill reached out and grabbed Hermione's hand in one and Ginny's in the other. George took Ginny's free hand. Hermione looked around to make sure everyone was linked before turning on the spot.

They arrived on a beautiful lush field. There was nobody in sight, which was fortunate because it would have been hard to explain their sudden appearance.

"Wow," Ginny said looking around. This was truly a gorgeous outpost. It felt like they had stepped into a postcard. There were rolling hills that were covered in the greenest and softest grass Ginny could ever recall having seen.

"Yeah, this was the nicest place we stayed on the hunt. Couldn't risk open fields too much because of the greater chance some muggle or worse would see us. But we walked here from a spot over in Cambridge. We had to keep moving and this was right after Ron had been splinched and couldn't apparate yet. Wish we could have enjoyed it more." Hermione said glancing around and only now appreciating how lovely it was. Her time here previously had been marred by Ron's surliness and her concern over his weakened state.

Now she was here again and still couldn't enjoy it. 'When I find Ron, I'm going to change my memory of this place. I'm going to set up a picnic in this field. I'm going to lay out a huge quilt and set up some muggle repellant charms and we are going to make love right here in the open.' Hermione thought.

"Ready?" Bill asked Hermione, interrupting her somewhat scandalous thoughts. She cleared her head, hoping the blush hadn't been visible on her face.

As Hermione pulled out Ron's wand, next to her Ginny did the same with Harry's. She had explained the theory of the charm to Ginny, but they hadn't tested it at all. They had no idea if this would even work, but Hermione felt confident. She glanced at the wand in her palm before turning and giving Ginny a nod. "On three." Hermione declared.

"One…" She was entirely focused on the wand, which lay in the palm of her hand. She couldn't even hear Ginny counting next to her.

"Two…" She knew Bill and George were staring motionless at the two women, but she couldn't even see them. Nothing else mattered. Nothing but the wand.

"Three…"

"Find him," she whispered.

* * *

><p>Harry and Ron stood in the doorway staring towards the world outside. As soon as they opened the door, they were met with a blast of freezing air that Harry felt cut right through his robes. Harry wrapped his arms around himself as he stared at their surroundings.<p>

Trees. The trees were so thick and dense around them. As far as his eyes could see, there didn't seem to be any indication of civilization anywhere nearby. That said, he couldn't actually see very far because of the vastness of the trees.

Harry observed how close they were to these large trees, and realized it was unfathomable that the warehouse they were in could fit amongst them. "There must be an undetectable extension charm on whatever we are inside. It can't be much bigger than a 3- meter by 3-meter box on the outside. Otherwise, there is no way a building of this size could fit in between these trees." Harry said.

"Forget the trees," Ron said. "Look at the snow! It's bloody freezing." There was perhaps 6 inches of snow coating the ground. Of course, this meant that there would be much more snow if they were in an open field, but the thick branches and treetops had collected much of the snow before it made it to the ground.

"We can't go out there," Ron said suddenly.

"We can't stay here." Harry retorted.

Ron reached out and shut the door, effectively stopping the cold air from coming back inside. He looked as though he would have stormed off, except as Harry couldn't stand on his own, that would have been disastrous.

"We'll die out there. It's too cold. We don't have our wands and you can't even walk. We won't make it five miles."

Harry bit his lip. Ron was right; of course, he wasn't a strategist for nothing. He had a knack for seeing how choices and decisions would play out in the grand scheme of things.

"But if we stay here, we could die too." Harry said, also having concerns with their only other option.

Ron helped Harry to a chair before taking a seat across from him. "Let me think," Ron said. He then reached for the peanut butter and bread and began making a sandwich. He handed one to Harry before making a second for himself. He frowned at the peanut butter jar as if it were telling him something he didn't want to hear.

After a few moments, he spoke. "I think we have to stay here. If we stay here and they come back, we are screwed. But if they don't, we're okay, at least for a bit. If we go out there, we are definitely screwed." Ron explained.

"Even if they don't come back, how long do you really think we can stay here? We only have enough peanut butter and bread for a day or two. We'll be screwed even if they don't come back!" Harry said, frustrated. He felt like a sitting duck if they stayed put. Harry looked at his uneaten sandwich. "We might want to save these," he added, trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice.

"I doubt we'll be here two days." Ron said, with a scoff. "I'm sure Hermione and Ginny are on their way as we speak."

Now it was Harry's turn to lose his cool. "And what if they aren't, Ron? I know they are out looking because it's exactly what we'd be doing if the situation was reversed, but they have no idea where to start. I don't even know where the fuck we are; how are they supposed to figure it out?" He was yelling, but he couldn't help it. Of course, as soon as he finished his tirade, he felt bad. Ron's face seemed to drain of even more color.

As Harry finished his rant, the room fell silent. It was a full minute before Ron spoke again.

"So we die out there, or we die in here." Ron whispered.

Harry frowned at the gravity of his friend's statement.

"I don't feel so good," Ron said, voice softer. His sandwich, which he was so eager to make moments earlier, lay forgotten on the table with Harry's.

"You need to rest. Why don't you kip down first before we decide on anything," Harry said, once again taking note of Ron's pale demeanor and clouded eyes. "We'll save the sandwiches for when you wake up and we need our strength." Ron nodded, stood from his chair and walked to the small bunkroom that was off to the side.

Ron collapsed in one of the bunks, and Harry tried to think of the best way to protect his clearly weakened friend. He needed something to protect them with. His eyes scanned the main room for anything they could use as a weapon. His attention settled on the pile of the broken glass from the back wall of the box they had been in.

It took him a while, but he was able to crawl over to the pile and grab a few sharp pieces of glass before hobbling back to the bunkroom. It wouldn't be much, but perhaps he could use these as knives if someone showed up.

He shut the door to the bunkroom and locked it. He knew this would do very little if his captors showed up with wands, but it was the least he could do.

He briefly thought of his mother, trapped in the nursery without a wand with him as a baby, knowing that locking a door would do nothing against a wand.

Fear gripped him. He tried to think of a way to tell someone, anyone, where they were.

"Gin… Hermione…" he whispered, looking at Ron's now sleeping body. He noticed that Ron not only was pale, but seemed to be shaking and sweating a bit as well. Harry found himself once again terrified for his best friend. "Please hurry."


	13. Where Your Heart Is

**Author's Note: Sorry for the slight delay this week! I got a callback interview (see last updates author's note!) Which I'm really excited about but is also incredibly time consuming as far as prep goes! My apologies! **

**Also, as the search and rescue team is out and about, I've discussed bits of Great Britain where I have never been. I've pretty much exclusively looked at maps and wikipedia, so if you are from the area, please don't be offended by any descriptions. Send me a PM and tell me what it's like!**

**much love and thanks to my beta, obssessedRHShipper. **

**Chapter 13: Where Your Heart Is**

Hermione's wand rose in her hand. Her palm lay flat while the wand hovered about two inches above it. It stayed still for a full moment while Hermione held her breath, continued staring at the wand, and refused to look at any of the three redheads near her.

Just when Hermione almost felt herself giving up and felt the hope deflate out of her like a balloon, the wand began to spin in the air. It moved slowly at first, but then picked up speed until it was no more than a blur. Although she heard Ginny let out a gasp beside her, Hermione did not remove her gaze from the wand.

Then, just as suddenly as the wand starting spinning, it stopped. Hermione felt something warm and comforting spread from her hand and through her entire body. She took a few calming breaths, waited until her heart returned to normal speed, and then glanced over towards her companions.

Hermione's eyes met Ginny's for no more than a fraction of a second before the two looked at the wand in the other's hand. Harry and Ron's wands were pointing in the exact same direction. Hermione let out a sigh of relief. Despite Ginny's assurances and her own personal knowledge of both Harry and Ron's fierce loyalty to each other, she couldn't help but worry that the two had been split. Although it wasn't a guarantee they were together, it gave them more hope that they were.

The two wands were pointing at the exact same angle. "Looks north-west," said Bill, breaking the silence among the four.

Hermione nodded and pulled out her map. The wand stayed floating exactly as she left it. She looked at the map, back at the wand, and at the map again.

"Looks like it's pointing at a 45 degree angle or so." George observed. Ginny nodded fervently in agreement, as she noted Harry's wand as well.

"Heading towards Scotland maybe? I'm not that familiar with the area, but it's almost like it's pointing towards Glasgow." George continued when no one else commented.

"Perhaps a bit more west. It's even possible it's pointing toward Northern Ireland. A bit east of Belfast maybe?" Bill contributed.

Hermione interrupted their musings.

"Well, as we don't know how far north they are. I say we go here next," she said pointing towards an area in the Scottish Highlands. It was the northernmost point on the map. "That way we will be able to figure out how far north they are from here."

"No," Bill said, surprising Hermione. "Let's go here," he indicated a place far to the west of where they were now, but not north at all. "We'll get another angle for where they are, without crossing International boundaries yet. Better to finish one country's apparition points before moving to another; in that way, we aren't continually country-hopping. If we go back and forth from Scotland to Ireland to England too many times, we are going to be sick and exhausted by the time we find them.

Hermione nodded; he was right. Better to get the westernmost point in England and give them another angle rather than immediately go north. Her instincts wanted her to follow the wand immediately, but she knew this suggestion was more practical.

She held out her hand towards Bill. He took it in his, and extended his free hand to Ginny. Once Ginny grabbed onto George, Hermione turned on the spot again.

* * *

><p>Harry was beside himself.<p>

He knew that Ron had been completely right. They could not leave the warehouse, which kept them captive. They were completely trapped and at the mercy of their captors. This didn't make Harry happy. At all.

Ron hadn't woken up since he laid down to rest. His combined head injuries, loss of blood, and almost definite concussion had all caught up with him. He was lying on the cot and trembling in his sleep, where he had been for the better part of an hour.

He sat in a chair, grasping onto the piece of glass as if it were his lifeline. It was the only weapon he had against anyone who would come and attack them. The piece of glass was all he had to protect Ron.

He couldn't even go out and look for help while Ron rested. Although he doubted he would want to leave Ron defenseless and alone, he would have liked the ability to look around in case Ron took a turn for the worse. Thanks to his ankle, Harry couldn't even pace back and forth to get out some of his frustrations. Harry trapped not only in the warehouse, but also in his body.

When Ron let out a soft moan of pain, Harry felt himself losing what little grip on sanity he had left.

"To whomever the fuck you are that brought us here, I don't care how long it takes me. I will hunt you down and personally kill you." Harry said, somewhat loudly, hoping the place was bugged and that their captors would hear him. Instinctively, he knew the place was not bugged, or else the silver-haired captor would obviously have come back. He suspected the only thing keeping him away was fear that Harry and Ron had left or gotten a weapon and were waiting for him to return outnumbered.

Ron didn't even stir at Harry's outcry, and now Harry was beginning to wonder if he was sleeping or unconscious.

"Ron?" he whispered, limping over toward the bed.

There was nothing more than a moan from the usually talkative redhead.

"Come on, mate; I need you here with me for this one." Harry whispered, placing the back of his hand on Ron's forehead.

At his touch, Ron's eyes fluttered open.

"I was just napping; no need to get overly dramatic on me," Ron said with a weak smile.

"I'm starting to freak out," Harry said. "You look half-dead, I can't move at all, and I've never felt more helpless in my entire life." As Harry continued talking, his voice seemed to be getting higher and he was speaking faster. Ron couldn't remember seeing Harry this panicked ever, and considering what they had been through, that was really saying something.

Ron knew instantly that he had to get it together or at least appear more alert for Harry's sake. So, he slowly moved so that he was sitting in a more upright position. Once he was sitting up, he found himself feeling slightly better. The nap hadn't lasted very long, but it was long enough to clear some of the pain from his continually throbbing head.

He was feeling a bit lightheaded, which was unsurprising when one considered that his last full meal he had was dinner the night before with Hermione and his children. Since then he had been forced to fight for his life, not once, but twice and had suffered some pretty severe injuries.

Harry must have seen the telltale sign of a hungry Ron Weasley, because once Ron sat up, Harry handed him the sandwich he had made earlier. Ron eagerly took a bite before remembering their limited food supply. He glanced up at Harry with a look of guilt on his face.

"Eat it. You need your strength in case we are forced to fight again." Harry said with a reassuring nod. "Plus," Harry continued, "I'd like to see you look a little less like death."

As Ron finished the sandwich, he tried to think about their predicament. He was the strategic one; naturally, he would be depended upon to come up with something. There was no doubt in his mind that Ginny and Hermione were doing everything in their power to find them. But what if they couldn't figure it out? They had to help them some way like maybe giving the girls some sort of sign. This, however, seemed difficult considering they didn't even know where they themselves were.

'Ok,' Ron thought to himself, 'we can't send them information about where we are since we have no idea where that is. We will have to lead them to us. Think Ron, think. How can one be led somewhere?'

"Well, if we can't move, we need to find a way to get them to us." Ron said, thoughtfully, as an image of a silver doe from his past seemed to float in front of his eyes.

"How can we do that? We don't have a wand." Harry said, frustrated.

"Same way you broke the box." Ron said, with a smile as he realized a possible sign for the girls, "Wandless magic."

* * *

><p>"Where are we?" George asked as soon as they landed at their second point. The fog was very heavy and they seemed to be on rocky surf leading into water. The sea was occasionally spraying up towards them, coating them with water and leaving them all with a chill that seemed to cut right through their clothing. The fog made them all nervous and they couldn't see more than a few feet in front of them. It would make them more vulnerable to attack or to any unwanted eyes while they performed the charm. They couldn't even really see each other, except for Hermione, who was able to see her three companions bright red hair pretty clearly.<p>

"A bit west of Falmouth, along the English Channel. This was where Harry convinced me to go to Godric's Hollow." She glanced around at the familiar setting. "It was foggy and miserable then too." Hermione finished, remembering how dejected not only the fog and chill had made her feel, but how it was multiplied exponentially with the despair over Ron's departure. Back then, she had felt so hopeless that she had actually first thought the chill was because of dementors.

"Let's get to it." Ginny said, clearly anxious to keep moving as soon as possible. Bill, much to Hermione's surprise, looked a bit green. Hermione supposed the distance from two fairly long apparitions might have made him feel a bit sick. This was a problem considering how many more they might have to do, and somehow it surprised Hermione that Bill was the first to look ill. She shrugged it off, however, and nodded towards Ginny.

"Ready?" Hermione asked, and Ginny's eyes darted once again around their surroundings anxiously as she took out Harry's wand.

"On three," Hermione said, mirroring their prior use of the spell.

Once again at three, the wand floated up in Hermione's hand. After it spun and settled, Hermione brought her map back out. She glanced up at Ginny's and saw once again that the two wands were pointing in the same direction. It was north again, but also slightly tilted to the right.

"It's east," George said, looking closely at the wand and the map. "I mean still north, obviously, but it's slightly leaning toward the east, isn't it? That's good. Means they are either in England or Scotland. Guess we can leave out Ireland."

"Hermione said they would likely be in England," Ginny said. "International portkeys are hard to make."

Hermione nodded. "I didn't want to rule out Scotland and Ireland though, considering how close the countries are. I've read that it's easier to make a portkey to those two countries than say to Western Europe or something much further away."

"Well, we can definitely rule out Ireland." Bill said, speaking for the first time since they had apparated there. Hermione momentarily felt sorry for Bill; he was definitely looking rather nauseous, but a second later pushed Bill out of her mind. After all, this was about finding Ron and Harry. Bill didn't need to come if he didn't want to.

Hermione drew a straight line up from where they were, following the angle of the wand.

"They intersect around Carlisle." Ginny observed.

They did. Hermione didn't know much about Carlisle and they hadn't been there during the Horcrux hunt. It was in Northern England; that much she knew. The closest place to which they had been, and accordingly the safest spot they could apparate to was a location probably 20 kilometers on foot away from Carlisle. It was along the Eden river.

"You reckon?" Ginny continued, and Hermione knew exactly what she meant. Ginny's question clearly indicated that Ginny wanted to go immediately there and follow the wand on foot.

Hermione's instincts told her to do the same thing.

"Yeah, I do," Hermione said quietly.

Bill and George looked at each other, confused by the seemingly silent conversation between the two women.

"We are going here," Hermione said, indicating the X-marked spot on the map closest to Carlisle. Bill and George seemed to take the finality in her voice as something that was not to be questioned.

George took her hand in one and Ginny's in the other. Ginny reached her free hand to Bill, and together they turned once more.


	14. Fire and Ice

A/N: Err... I'm sorry? I really don't have any good excuse for the delay... I'm just sorry! I'd be looking pretty sheepish if you could see me. Special thanks to rhmac12 for getting on my case and reminding me that there were people anxiously waiting the next chapter.

And bows to ObssessedRHShipper for being a great beta, even with the delays.

**Chapter 14: Fire and Ice**

When the tightening pressure of apparition ended and Hermione's new surroundings came into focus, she immediately sprung into action. She didn't stop to wait for Ginny, or even look to see how Bill was faring. In fact, she didn't look at her companions at all. Instead, as soon as she landed, she focused on Ron's wand in her hand and casted the "Find him" charm.

The wand immediately began to spin around in her hand. Mere seconds after she cast the spell, more quickly than it ever had before, it came to a stop pointing east of where she stood. She could feel it. And the wand knew it too. It was as if the wand knew she was close to her goal…close to Ron.

Before Hermione had a chance to move, she heard a voice to her left.

"Bloody hell." It was Ginny, and it startled Hermione, reminding her that she was in fact not alone.

"Where the hell are we?" George's voice spoke out to their right.

Hermione had completely ignored their surroundings and had focused on Ron's wand entirely. Even now, the murmurings of her companions felt separate from her and sounded distant. She was in a bubble where nothing mattered except Ron. She completely zoned them out and was about to take off running when she felt a hand clamp onto her shirt. She wanted to shrug it off, but she could almost feel the desperation in its grasp.

"We need a plan," Ginny said, fingers still gripping Hermione's shirt. Hermione looked at her, eyes flashing in annoyance. She was about to retort when she heard a terrible retching sound to her right.

The sound caught the attention of both girls, and they immediately turned in the direction of the sound. Bill was on his knees, emptying the contents of his breakfast over the snow-covered earth below.

The desperation that was in Ginny's eyes when she faced Hermione was replaced by concern and surprise when she turned to Bill. Ginny's hand jerked away from Hermione as if she had been burnt, and she immediately set off to her brother's side.

Hermione was faced with a choice. Bill was clearly suffering from some of the nastier side effects of long distance apparitions. One did not simply apparate hundreds of miles in such quick succession without getting sick. Hermione knew that muggles actually suffered from a similar problem known as decompression sickness, which occurred when they changed altitudes too fast. It was actually surprising that Bill was the only one showing symptoms, but there was one fact that burned clearly in Hermione's highly logical mind: Bill could not apparate again anytime soon.

'So what now?' Hermione thought to herself, weighing her options. She wanted to leave Bill behind. Not alone, of course, but with Ginny or George or both if they wanted. She had to continue forward…had to find Ron.

Hermione felt herself beginning to get anxious again. She stopped focusing on the others around her as she resisted the urge to sprint off in the direction the wand was pointing. Instead she took a deep breath and for the first time since her arrival, glanced at their surroundings. She let out a barely audible gasp.

They were in the woods. But not the lovely familiar woods of the Forest of Dean, where the trees were spread out enough so that sunlight could seep through to her. These were different woods, similar to the Forbidden Forest. The trees were so dense and tall that Hermione could not make out the sky. Although not near nightfall, it was dark, and the darkness added to the cold. This was the stuff muggle horror flicks were made of; there wouldn't be another soul for miles.

As soon as Hermione appreciated the snow and the darkness, she too felt the iciness. It crept into her suddenly and chilled her to the core. It was freezing and they were not remotely dressed appropriately for the weather; goose bumps began to appear all over her skin. Just as she thought how stupid it was not to bring a jacket or any other winter gear along, she could practically hear Ron's voice in her head. 'A JACKET? ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

She cast a basic warming charm, first on herself, and then on the three redheads nearby.

George took his eyes off his sick brother long enough to shoot Hermione a grateful look.

"We have to get moving. Harry and Ron could be out in this cold. Without their wands, they won't last long." George said, voicing a fear that Hermione hadn't even let herself consider.

"Let's go," Bill said, using George as a crutch and getting to his feet. "Wands out, I reckon. Harry and Ron could be close, but so could whomever took them. We don't know how many there are; everyone needs to be on alert."

With that thought, the four friends began to move as stealthily as they could. George, still supporting Bill, tried to ignore the blackness creeping in around them.

* * *

><p>"You want me to cast a Patronus," Harry said, dumbfounded and glaring at the redhead in front of him, "Without a wand."<p>

"That's the general idea." Ron replied, a small smile playing across his lips.

"You do, of course, know that I can't do wandless magic, right?" Harry reminded him. "Let alone produce a corporal Patronus, which needless to say is not the easiest bit of magic to do even with a wand." Harry's face took on an annoyed grimace.

Ron looked at Harry with what could only be described as amusement. Leave it to Harry always to doubt himself. Hermione used to say that Ron was the one who didn't realize how great he was or how important he was. Although that was true to an extent, Harry suffered from the same self-doubt. He never really credited himself for some of the phenomenal accomplishments he had achieved; always citing others for their role or else claiming it was his own dumb luck.

"You CAN!" Ron said, with a glare. "And you will."

"You do it!" Harry said, exasperated.

"I can't. First of all, my head feels as though it's going to implode." With Ron's words, Harry's face took on a guilty expression. Ron chose to ignore this and continued, "I doubt I'll be able to focus on any happy memory long enough over the pounding. Second of all," Ron gave Harry another pointed look, "You said it yourself. You are starting to freak out. You can channel that emotion and that fear and create a Patronus. I know you can."

"Oh and I suppose you are Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected?" Harry replied. His tone further emphasized to Ron that he was on the right track. Harry sounded panicked even now. It was that kind of emotion that was going to be required to perform this bit of magic. And honestly, although he spoke clearly and pointedly, Ron was way too physically drained and hurting far too much to try anything of the sort himself.

Ron knew Harry needed to be on edge and needed to be nervous, since freaking Harry out was imperative to his plan. With strategy in mind, he chose his next words very carefully.

"I don't want to freak you out," Ron said, "but we aren't going to last here very long. I'm sure Ginny and Hermione are looking, but since we don't even know where we are, how can they? We can't just give up, die here, and leave them! If we die, who's going to protect them? Who's going to protect Albus, James, Lily, Rose and Hugo. They need us." Ron continued. He was careful to bring up each of the children's names in a very pointed manner.

"We stay here, we die. We go out there, we die." Ron said before reaching his fingers up and pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to quell the relentless headache that continuing to pound in the base of his skull. The pounding worsened, as if he had agitated it with his relentless plea to his friend.

Harry looked at Ron and knew he was right. He took a deep breath and gathered his resolve. He pictured his wedding to Ginny, her beautiful white dress contrasting unbelievably with her fiery red hair. He remembered how drunk he felt with happiness, without needing any alcohol. He pictured Ron and Hermione, hand in hand, completely enamored with each other. He saw James, Albus, and his little Lily.

"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"

Harry's eyes were shut, picturing his happy memories. Soon after the words left his mouth, he felt warmth, and opened his eyes eagerly hoping that he had achieved his goal.

"You've got to be effin' kidding me." Ron said, voice low and scared.

"Did I do that?" Harry said, shocked, his eyes blinking to take in the scene around him.

"No, I don't think so. I think it was bad timing. Alright mate, grab hold; we have to get out of here." Ron said, extending his arm around Harry so that Harry would only need to put pressure on his good leg. Together they made their way towards the exit.

The bloody place had caught fire.

* * *

><p>They were moving quickly as they could, but it was getting harder to see. The snow was playing tricks on them, creating and obscuring obstacles along their trek. They were warm, but there was little that could be done about the snow creeping into their shoes or the low branches and roots, which seemed determined to trip them up.<p>

Bill was having the hardest time. The pressure had made him nauseous and not as sharp as he usually was. Every single tree seemed determined to snag him up and he would have stumbled to the ground multiple times by this point if not for George's strong arm supporting him.

Ginny and Hermione were moving a bit faster, Ginny sending anxious looks towards her brothers as they trekked along a few feet behind them. She too had cast the 'Find him' charm, and found with great relief that it once again settled in the same direction as Hermione's.

"Nearly there," she whispered to herself, keeping her eyes focused on Hermione's bushy hair in front of her. To be honest, she hated this forest by far the most. The blackness felt as though it was crushing and suffocating her. She wondered briefly what it would be like to lose Harry to a place like this. If she did, the darkness would never leave her. "Focus on Hermione. Just keep moving. We're going to find them," Ginny said, giving herself mental encouragement as they continued along.

A loud crack startled Ginny from her mantra. Hermione came to an abrupt halt, standing so still it was as though she had been petrified. Ginny froze at the sound as well.

Hermione's brown eyes met Ginny's. It was just then that they noticed they had somehow made their way onto a frozen pond…a frozen pond that was now cracking beneath them.


	15. Through the Smoke

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed and private messaged me about this story. Although I know some (all?) of you are a bit impatient with me, I really am just enjoying this story and it's a labor of love I don't want to rush through. It was suggested that I "just finish it" but I that isn't my style. I'm not putting my name on something unless I like it... soooo... sorry? I'm not just writing something so that it's done. I can promise you this story WILL be finished sooner rather than later and I appreciate you guys so much for your support!

obssessedRHShipper is the best beta!

Chapter 15: Through the Smoke

One of the biggest mistakes one could make would be to underestimate George Weasley. He was quicker, brighter, and stronger than most realized.

After the war, the plight of the quieter of the famous Weasley twins became the cornerstone heartbreaking story of the wizarding world. After a too short reprieve from the media, the months following the war seemed to have George's wellbeing and mental recovery as one of its top three stories. Many in their world defined George by tragedy.

Now, when people thought of the Weasley family, they instinctually went to Ron first. Ron was the hero who stood by Harry Potter since he was 11. True, he didn't have the brilliance of his wife, Hermione, but he did get across McGonagall's chess set when he was only a first year. He did go into the Chamber of Secrets with Harry at 12, and at only 13 he stood toe to toe with a man he believed to be a mass murderer. This kind of attention caused Ron to flush with pride. After all, he spent his youth as the last one on anyone's mind.

Next, people would think of Percy or Bill; after all, both had held the position of prefect and head boy. Close behind Bill, one couldn't forget Charley, the dragon tamer.

Then there was Ginny, of course, who was the wife of Mr. Potter and a member of the Order of Phoenix, known for her clever hexes, quick charms, and beauty. But Ginny learned everything she knew from Fred and George. Ginny was once quoted as saying, _"Growing up with Fred and George, you start to believe anything is possible if you've got enough nerve."_

Fred and George were brilliant. They were just a different type of brilliant than bookish Percy and Bill. Fred was definitely the louder of the two, and Fred was the one who would sometimes act without thinking. But you don't grow up with a somewhat reckless brother and big dreams without developing a unique set of skills. All those years of experimenting gave George lightening quick reflexes when all hell broke lose.

Both Ginny and Hermione were standing on the pond when the ring of a thunderous crack broke their quiet trek through the woods. Saved by nothing more than helping his sick brother, George had fallen behind the girls and was on solid ground when the ice started cracking.

George reacted without thinking. He let go of Bill, who fell unceremoniously to the ground, and in one swift motion, he pointed at his baby sister and yelled, "LEVICORPUS."

An invisible hook grabbed Ginny by the ankle and suspended her over the freezing water. The ice had split below her, leaving her upside down. It was so close, that the tips of her long red hair were soaking in the cold water below.

Ginny had acted on instinct at well. When she heard the crack, she had pointed her wand at Hermione, and shouted the first spell that came to her mind.

_Wingardium leviosa!_

Ginny had levitated Hermione and when George flipped her upside down, she had inadvertently flipped Hermione upside down as well. The result was an upside down Ginny and Hermione doing an acrobatic move before landing with a painful thud on the side of the lake.

The whole thing would have been hilarious to watch, if they weren't suspended over a freezing lake and terrified about the whereabouts of Ron and Harry.

Hermione got to her feet wincing at her bruises, as George set Ginny down. She felt a wave of shame overcome her and felt her cheeks redden as she looked at Ginny. No matter which way you put it, Ginny had risked her own safety to protect Hermione, while Hermione didn't act quickly enough, which was incredibly unusual. Ginny chose to cast a spell on Hermione and protect her, rather than protect herself.

"Ginny… I…" Hermione started, wanting to apologize for doubting Ginny earlier and the tension that had existed between them since the hunt for Ron and Harry began.

"You'd do the same for me, Hermione," Ginny said with a wink, saving what would have been a somewhat awkward apology before turning and casting a drying charm on the frozen soaked tips of her hair. "Besides, Ron would kill me if we found them and you weren't in one piece."

The mention of her husband's name brought Hermione back to her senses. She smiled at Ginny before casting the Find Him charm once more. There would be time for an apology and a talk later, but they had a job to do first. The flip upside down and the thick oppressing trees had disoriented Hermione, and she needed to find their direction again.

She was so focused on the charm that she didn't notice it.

It was Bill, finally starting to feel better, who smelled it first. Confused, he thought that Ginny had just burned the tips of her hair, but soon there was no mistaking it. The forest was on fire.

"Uh, guys…"

* * *

><p>The forest caught fast. The thick foliage just seemed to go up in flames as if the trees were no more than matchsticks. Harry knew this wasn't natural. Trees of this age, hundreds of years old judging by their girth, shouldn't be burning that fast, but at the same time, the fire was likely magical. Hell, the whole forest could be magical for all he knew.<p>

The warehouse burned quickly, disintegrating into nothing more than a skeleton of a building behind them. The trees nearest to the warehouse caught quickly. Afterwards, the fire chased after the two in a way reminiscent of Fiendfyre. As Ron choked on the smoke from the magical fire, Harry had never hated magic more.

_If only we had brooms. _Harry thought, doing his best to stay away from the flame's path, which seemed drawn to them. '_Or a wand, or something.'_

He could barely walk. His ankle was throbbing and every time he placed it on the ground it threatened to collapse underneath him. Ron had his arm around Harry to provide support, but it wasn't helping much. Ron seemed to be struggling with Harry's additional weight.

"Ron, maybe you should…" Harry started to say as the two continued to limp away from the flames. The flames ate up the distance and the two men maintained their lead by nothing more than a few feet.

"Don't you even… Don't you even effin say it, you bloody moron." Ron replied. His voice was raspy from the smoke.

Another step forward and, in an effort to get them move a little bit faster, Harry attempted to put more weight on his bum ankle. He was rewarded with pain shooting up his leg and into his lower back.

The flames got closer and Harry's coughing matched Ron's.

"Go, Ron. Just go." Harry pleaded. "One of us has to make it out of this. You can sprint. I'll keep following, I promise."

Harry felt Ron's shoulders tense, but he didn't take his arm away from Harry's waist. The two inched forward.

"Ron…"

"Shut up, Harry. Just shut up. I'm not wasting my breath on that shit idea." Ron said, before another cough racked his body.

They were screwed. There was no other way to word it. As the flames caught up with them, and the smoke crept more and more into his lungs, Harry felt himself fighting a losing battle to keep moving forward. He felt Ron stagger a bit beside him, before tightening his hold on Harry and pulling him forward.

In one fleeting second, Harry lost hope. Gone were the thoughts of his earlier idea to have Ron leave him and save himself. It was too late for that now. Ron would never go, and to be honest, Harry doubted even Ron would be able to run away from the merciless flames.

Suddenly Harry was on the ground, dirt mixing with the smoke in his mouth. Ron had fallen, unable to continue forward anymore. Using what little energy he had left, Harry turned to look at his friend.

"Sorry, mate." Ron breathed before his eyes fluttered shut, leaving Harry alone only for a few seconds before he too succumbed to darkness as the flames danced in around them.

* * *

><p>Their wands were pointing directly into the flames. Hermione felt her heart pounding loudly in her chest. Her extremities were cold and trembling, despite the heat now radiating from the fire, which couldn't have been more than 100 yards away.<p>

Ginny looked at her. A new trust had settled over the women since Ginny had saved Hermione. They had always been friends, best friends even, but their earlier fight had left the two women shaken as they entered this quest together. They were reunited once again, and it felt better. Hermione felt more powerful looking at Ginny as a woman with the same goal and the same determination.

"They are in there." Ginny said; a slight quake in her voice was the only evidence of her fear. Hermione recognized immediately that it was not fear for herself, but fear for Harry and Ron.

Hermione nodded before looking at Bill and George.

Bill nodded, quickly determining what was going to happen. Ginny and Hermione were going into the flames and there was absolutely nothing that Bill and George could do to stop them. What he could do was make it as safe as possible.

"Wait!" he started and Hermione's glare turned quizzical. He cast a bubblehead charm on the two girls before turning and casting the same on George and himself. "It will help us breath, with the smoke," he clarified.

Hermione took only a second to appreciate her friend's oddly distorted features before she took off into the flames, Ginny hot on her heels.


	16. Homecoming

a/n: thanks again to my wonderful beta, ObssessedRHShipper. Also thanks to anyone who has stuck with this story. I'm sorry it's been delayed. As I said before, it's a labor of love, and I've had some concerns about the direction it was heading. I can't tell you how much it means to me that you're still sticking with it. :)

Chapter 16: Homecoming

The bubble did its job, allowing Ginny to breath easily even with the heavy dark smoke closing in around her. Any other time the dark would have made her feel claustrophobic, but this time it was different. Harry was close; she could feel it in every inch of her being. She could feel his presence in her bones. Her overwhelming desire to find him took over her usual fears.

But, practically, she couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her, and it was only getting worse the deeper into the flames she got. Hermione was beside her, staying close, as the two kept moving forward as fast as they could. Ginny knew that this wouldn't do. At this rate, they wouldn't find Harry and Ron until they tripped over them.

"Ventis!" Ginny muttered. Her wand sent forth a burst of wind, which blew away some of the smoke nearby. It cleared the area in front of them, allowing them to see perhaps 10 yards away. However, her victory was short-lived, and within moments, the smoke crept back into the cleared path.

"Ventis Maxima!" Hermione bellowed, taking a hint from Ginny's spell work. This time there was a clearance of perhaps 15 feet, but more importantly, the smoke held for longer before creeping back in.

Bill and George, who were following at a slight distance, also took note. As if on cue, they began casting the Ventis Spell continually, which allowed the girls to remain focused on their Point Me Charm. The four were a well-oiled machine, moving as swiftly as possible through the flames. There was no communication necessary; they were united in finding Harry and Ron as quickly as possible. Neither of them spoke it, but the fact remained, the longer it took them to find Ron and Harry, the more likely it was that they wouldn't find them alive.

It was Hermione who saw them first. Ron's red hair for once was not standing out, because of the flames around them. She saw Harry's raven locks, dark black among the flames. Although the fire was keeping its distance from their bodies, the two men were not moving.

"No…" was all Hermione was able to squeak out, before she felt her blood run cold and her breath catch in her throat. Ginny was a split second behind Hermione as the two women raced the remaining 15 feet or so separating them from their husbands, Bill and George hot on their heels.

The two boys were a mere inches from each other. Hell, as Ginny got closer she realized they were still entangled. Ron's left arm was loose over Harry's waist and Harry's right arm lay across Ron's shoulders. It was instantaneously obvious they had been dependent on each other for movement.

There was no time to waste. Every single second they stayed in that forest, there was another second that the dark smoke was filling their lungs. Hermione reached them first and without even pausing to check for a pulse, she grabbed Ron's hand in one of hers and Harry's in the other. Ginny, realizing what Hermione was thinking, resisted the urge to grab and check Harry and instead placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder. Hermione ripped a button off her blouse, whispered _Portus_ and the four disappeared.

It all happened in a matter of seconds. One second the four were in front of them, and the next, Bill and George were alone in the forest. Before George had a second to even question it, Bill grabbed his arm, and the two Apparated away, leaving the flames and the burning forest behind them.

* * *

><p>Ginny didn't even know where they were going but she trusted Hermione's instincts.<p>

"LUNA!" Hermione screamed, as soon as they landed. "We need help!"

Ginny didn't even pause to look around. She had tunnel vision, focusing entirely on Harry's face. She rolled him over and placed her ear down to his nose and mouth. It took a heart-stopping second, but then she could feel it. She could feel the cool air of his breaths on the side of her face. Ginny let out a cry somewhere between a sob and a laugh.

Before she could check to see what other injuries her husband had sustained, a spell was cast and Harry's body rose from the floor onto a nearby stretcher. Healers surrounded him, effectively cutting Ginny off from him.

"No..." she whispered as his face disappeared from her line of sight. She didn't want to lose him again. "NO," she said, louder this time, and began pushing her way back towards him, ignoring the healers that were already going to work on her husband.

Just as she was about to hex the healers surrounding Harry, a calming hand on her shoulder guided her away from the healers and her husband.

"We're taking care of him." A calm voice spoke softly in her ear, grounding her again.

Ginny turned to look into the calming eyes of Luna Lovegood. It was only then that she began to take in her surroundings. They were at St Mungo's; that much was clear. Ginny knew that Luna was the head healer of the Magical Catastrophes' Ward, and they clearly had landed there. Hermione had obviously decided to skip the main atrium triage area; this was something that she probably was not allowed to do, but clearly, she did not care.

Ron and Harry were being surrounded by Luna's staff. Luna had stepped back to comfort her two old friends.

"We are going to do everything we can, but of course you know that." Luna said softly. "Why don't you both wait in my office; it will be more comfortable there, not to mention private. I suspect you don't want people to see you here yet."

When Luna said 'both,' Ginny remembered Hermione. Hermione was standing there, looking far more broken than Ginny had ever remembered seeing her. Ginny did the only thing she could think of, and grabbed Hermione's hand in hers, giving it a reassuring squeeze. The two women allowed Luna to guide them to her office.

"Make yourself as comfortable as possible. I'll let you know as soon as they are done treating them, and as soon as you can see them. I promise." With that, Luna gave them a reassuring smile and left the room.

Ginny glanced over at Hermione. When the door shut behind Luna, Hermione visibly flinched and the tears began to roll down her face.

Ginny just squeezed her hand tighter, a pit in her stomach when she realized she didn't even spare Ron, her own brother, a glance. All she could see and comprehend was Harry's condition.

Hermione turned her tear-stricken face to meet Ginny.

"He wasn't breathing."

* * *

><p>Bill and George landed side by side in Bill's living room.<p>

George felt somewhat shell-shocked. "Where did they…."

"St Mungo's, I'm sure." Bill said, not sparing his brother a glance, but instead moving hastily towards the mantle where he reached for a small vase with Floo Powder inside it.

George looked at him suspiciously. "Why didn't we go with them?"

Bill spared him a glance. "There is nothing we can do at the hospital right now. Hermione and Ginny are with them. There are people that need to be notified. We need to get to the Ministry first. Then mum and the rest of family."

"Kingsley?" George asked, as Bill reached into the vase and pulled out a handful of the powder.

"You know it, bro." Bill said, with a warm smile. His concern for his littlest brother was staggering, but he couldn't allow himself to lose focus just yet. There was truly nothing that Bill or George could do at the hospital right now. Ron and Harry would be getting the help they need with Hermione and Ginny. Kingsley needed to know what happened. So did Winslow and the Aurors, not to mention, the rest of the Weasley clan, who, if Bill knew his family at all, would all be at the Burrow now awaiting news.

Bill was used to being the one who got things under control-who made sure things were taken care of, and this time was no different.

"Ministry of Magic!" The flames turned green and Bill and George stepped through them and into the Ministry atrium.

"Stay calm. Remember, no one knows what happened." Bill whispered to his brother as the two took on a moderately fast pace towards the Minister's office.

"You're kidding, right?" said George with a laugh. "Have you looked in the mirror? We both look like we've been through the ringer." And it was true. They were both covered in dirt from the trip through the forest, not to mention soot from the flames. Bill, who was no longer feeling sick, had that pale greenish tone to his skin that one gets when they are recovering from an illness.

"Well, still, no one knows WHAT happened." Bill repeated, emphasizing the 'what.' The two tried to ignore the looks they were getting and walked as quickly as they could without drawing attention to themselves up to the Minister's office.

When they got to the door that leads to the Minister of Magic's wing, they were stopped by a golden lynx statute, which had been fixed out front came to life. "State your name and purpose." The lynx spoke in the calming docile tones that the brothers had affiliated with the man whose office it was.

"Bill and George Weasley. We have information about today's earlier events." Bill said, somewhat evasively. There was no point in risking being overheard; Kingsley would get the message.

The door swung open within seconds and the brothers entered into the huge waiting area of the Minister of Magic's office. There was a further door, which Bill knew would lead to Kingsley's private office. Set next to that door was a desk, where the Minister's assistant usually sat. Currently, the office was empty. Before Bill and George even made it to Kingsley's office door, it opened and the Minister came out into the waiting area himself.

"Well?" The older man said, looking at the brothers anxiously.

"Hermione and Ginny took them St. Mungo's." Bill said, speaking fast but clearly, and reaching into his back pocket, pulled out Hermione's map. "We found them in a forest, somewhere around here."

"Are they alright?" Kingsley asked, looking visibly relieved that the two were found. George remembered suddenly why he was so fond of Kingsley. Where any other Minister in his lifetime would have been instantly concerned about notifying the press or what this meant for their term in office, Kingsley's foremost concern was for the health and safety of Ron and Harry.

"We don't know yet." Bill said, looking up from the map. "Hermione and Ginny took them; we came here straight away to notify you."

"Thanks. Tell the rest of your family. I am going to let Winslow know where they were found, so he can send a team out there immediately if we can figure out who took them." Kingsley said, meeting Bill's eyes. "Anything else you think they should know?"

George looked hesitantly at his brother, before turning to the Minister.

"The entire bloody place is on fire."


	17. Signs that Can't Be Ignored

The Arrangement

A/N: This story was on hiatus for a good long while. I lost a lot of writing inspiration, but I have been recently rekindled and I couldn't leave it unfinished. I could apologize and beg for forgiveness, but I'll be honest, there is no excuse for leaving my readers. I'd appreciate if you could find it in your hearts to forgive me.

Chapter 17: Signs that Can't Be Ignored

Ginny and Hermione were positively shell shocked. That's the only way to word it. They were seated in Luna's office, the same place they had been for the last few hours, but had not said one word to each other. A staff assistant in a green robe brought them both tea, but the tea lay untouched and forgotten, now cold.

Ginny had her knees curled up to her chest and was rocking back and forth ever so slightly. _He's ok, he'll be ok, he was breathing_. She repeated these words to herself like a prayer. She dare not say them out loud less Hermione overhear her.

Hermione was less fortunate. Her husband, Ron was not breathing.

For a second, Ginny was grateful it wasn't Harry. Then, as quick as that thought crossed her mind, the guilt hit her like a punch in the stomach. She would never forgive herself for that one moment. Ginny was absolutely disgusted with herself. How dare she celebrate her husband's health, when her own brother very well could be dead.

She turned towards Hermione for the first time since Luna left.

"They are going to.."

"Please Ginny, don't." Hermione interrupted. She knew what Ginny was going to say and her voice was calm and controlled. Not angry. Hermione needed Ron to be ok. There wasn't another option.

Almost seconds the door opened again to reveal Luna.

"Are they.." Ginny started redirecting her voice, but it faltered before she could finish.

"I'll take you to see Harry." Luna responded, voice more serious than usual. "Hermione, I'll be back in a few moments."

Hermione, strength sapped out of her, could do nothing but nod. Part of her wanted to shake Luna for answers, but she couldn't. She was still too shell shocked. All she could see was Ron, lying on the floor of a forest, unconscious and unmoving. She could see the blood that caked his beautiful face, tangling with his hair.

He had to be ok. He absolutely had to be ok.

As soon as the office door shut behind them, Ginny launched into question.

"Harry's going to be ok." Luna said, with a small smile. "His ankle was badly broken, but we've fixed that. Other than that, he's been dealing with smoke inhalation. His lungs were singed, but we've given him a potion to ease the pain. It should heal in time. He won't be running any marathons for a while and may be short of breath, but he should make a full recovery."

Ginny felt her knees give out momentarily.

"Thank Merlin."

Luna led Ginny to a private room where they were keeping Harry.

He was lying on a small hospital bed, eyes closed, but looking peaceful. Ginny sat by his side, taking his hand into hers.

Harry stirred at the contact.

"Harry? Luv?" Ginny whispered, only wanting to get his attention if he was truly awake.

Harry moved a bit more before his eyes fluttered open. He turned his head slightly and made eye contact with Ginny.

"Gin…" He said, lips turning up.

"You're ok, luv. You're ok now." Ginny said, a huge smile lighting up her face.

"Ron?" Harry asked as his brow furrowed.

"He's here." Ginny said, unable to worry her weakened husband with the truth. Fortunately, Harry accepted this answer and he nodded before closing his eyes once more.

"He's here." Ginny repeated to herself, settling in to her vigil at her husband's side.

* * *

><p>With a few trusted Aurors, Kingley left the ministry and headed towards the area Bill and George marked off. George feared they would find nothing there. What little evidence must have been burnt terribly by the flames. He knew there were ways to trace magic, see its markings, but he didn't know how much would survive the fire. He was doubtful they would find those responsible for the days horrific events.<p>

Days. It was hard to believe this entire nightmare had only encompassed a few hours.

"We should get to the Burrow, update Mum and Dad. We did run off pretty suddenly." George said, thinking of what still needed to be done. The two brothers were exhausted to say the least. They had not slept or eaten in what felt like ages, and they both needed to shower desperately.

"Ay. I want to get to Ron as quickly as possible." Bill said, with a curt nod. "We should be able to Floo from here." He added, pointing towards the ornate fireplace in the Minister's office.

Before the adrenaline crash that George knew was coming hit them, he though a handful of floo powder into the flames.

"THE BURROW"

As soon as they entered their parent's home, they were immediately grabbed by their mother.

"WHERE HAVE YOU…." Molly started but was abruptly cut off when she saw the state her boys where in.

"We found them. They are at St. Mungos." Bill said to the group.

"Are ze okay?" Fleur said, holding baby Hugo close to her chest and looking her husband up and down with a wild expression.

"We don't know yet. They were unconscious when we found them. Hermione and Ginny took them immediately to the hospital. We take it you haven't heard anything yet?" George asked, directing the question to his more level headed father who shook his head no.

Molly took a second to absorb the news before immediately launching into take action mode. "You both need a shower, some food, and some rest. If Fleur can stay here with the children, your father and I will head to St. Mungos."

Bill and George both visible sagged with relief at this suggestion.

"Notify us immediately if something happens?" Bill asked, already feeling his knees buckling slightly now that the adrenaline had left.

"Absolutely."

* * *

><p>"Come on Ron, don't you dare give up." Luna said, in a voice unusually harsh. A spell was artificially inflating and deflating Ron's lungs, mimicking breath, but Luna had hoped his own steam would have taken over by now.<p>

After taking Ginny to Harry she had returned to Ron's treatment room and relieved the Healer who had been working in there.

Ron's shoulder had been a quick fix, as were many of the cuts and bruises, but his head injury was concerning. Blunt force was unusual in the magical world. He could slip into a coma easily and no magical spell would bring him out.

"You are not going to let some freak attack separate you from your wife and children, are you?" Luna said, casting yet another spell in hope that it would strengthen the redhead. "Your babies need you. Hermione needs you." Luna said biting her lip.

"Ronald Weasley. You stop being dramatic and wake up this instant!" Luna yelled in her best possible imitation of Hermione.

To her surprise, for the first time since Ron was brought in, he took a breath on his own. Immediately lightening the artificial spell and casting yet another healing charm over his head, Luna smiled for the first time since the boys had been brought up.

"There you go! That's the Weasley king we know and love. Your wife will never forgive you if you die." Luna continued talking. Ron seemed to be responding more to her words then her spell. With a moment of realization, Luna cast a patronus.

"Hermione, follow me please." She whispered to the rabbit, instructing her patronus to bring Hermione to the room where she was treating Ron. It was unconventional, discouraged even, but Luna was sure Hermione could handle it. She was also sure Ron needed to hear his wife to call him back into the land of the living.

As we said earlier, some signs cannot be ignored.

* * *

><p>dodges all bullets.. see earlier authors note.<p> 


End file.
